Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the April increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 3.3 percent.  Energy prices advanced 6.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5
Mar 2023	3.7	4.3
Apr 2023	3.8	4.5
May 2023	3.2	4.3
Jun 2023	2.5	4.0
Jul 2023	2.7	3.4
Aug 2023	3.3	3.5
Sep 2023	3.2	3.2
Oct 2023	2.4	2.7
Nov 2023	2.8	2.8
Dec 2023	3.5	3.4
Jan 2024	2.5	3.7
Feb 2024	3.4	3.8
Mar 2024	4.0	4.3
Apr 2024	3.9	3.8

Food prices increased 0.9 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.2 percent, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (1.1 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 1.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 3.3 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.3 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (5.7 percent) Prices for food away from home increased 4.7 percent.

The energy index rose 2.1 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 15.0 percent and prices for electricity decreased 1.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 6.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (8.7 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 6.6 percent, while prices for natural gas service fell 9.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in April. Higher prices for medical care (0.7 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent)  were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.3 percent) and education and communication (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent) and medical care (2.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in household furnishings and operations (-2.7 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.7 percent).

The May 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2024.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments—department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE: Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	Apr. 2023	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		328.232	330.671	332.572	3.9	1.3	0.6
All items (1967=100)		969.743	976.949	982.566	-	-	-
Food and beverages		335.560	334.781	337.613	3.0	0.6	0.8
Food		337.751	337.171	340.092	3.3	0.7	0.9
Food at home		322.334	322.081	322.600	2.3	0.1	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		351.618	348.307	346.088	-1.4	-1.6	-0.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		352.507	351.201	354.902	5.7	0.7	1.1
Dairy and related products		296.315	301.916	299.095	-1.2	0.9	-0.9
Fruits and vegetables		415.558	417.339	420.401	1.3	1.2	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		303.271	308.188	307.748	2.4	1.5	-0.1
Other food at home		265.093	261.826	261.428	2.9	-1.4	-0.2
Food away from home		350.514	349.575	355.156	4.7	1.3	1.6
Alcoholic beverages		283.712	279.886	281.200	-1.7	-0.9	0.5
Housing		377.297	379.848	380.319	4.7	0.8	0.1
Shelter		432.052	435.247	437.090	5.4	1.2	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		455.850	458.184	460.739	5.0	1.1	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		450.137	452.337	454.312	6.0	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		450.112	452.311	454.286	6.0	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities		478.022	483.838	468.149	4.7	-2.1	-3.2
Household energy		421.506	428.805	409.116	3.0	-2.9	-4.6
Energy services(2)		419.946	427.220	407.423	3.0	-3.0	-4.6
Electricity(2)		496.279	506.647	498.648	6.6	0.5	-1.6
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		305.093	306.737	260.717	-9.2	-14.5	-15.0
Household furnishings and operations		131.896	131.272	131.252	-2.7	-0.5	0.0
Apparel		120.505	124.614	123.045	1.7	2.1	-1.3
Transportation		266.174	273.722	280.141	6.4	5.2	2.3
Private transportation		266.791	274.883	280.347	6.4	5.1	2.0
New and used motor vehicles(4)		110.532	111.055	110.866	-1.7	0.3	-0.2
New vehicles(1)		193.296	192.873	192.628	-1.9	-0.3	-0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		344.429	346.106	346.094	-6.4	0.5	0.0
Motor fuel		360.451	376.610	403.464	8.6	11.9	7.1
Gasoline (all types)		351.094	367.031	393.569	8.7	12.1	7.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		351.507	367.668	394.624	8.8	12.3	7.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		336.312	350.968	375.568	8.3	11.7	7.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		337.389	352.023	376.231	8.5	11.5	6.9
Medical care		572.628	570.845	575.116	2.8	0.4	0.7
Recreation(6)		122.119	122.603	123.111	-0.2	0.8	0.4
Education and communication(6)		160.535	159.727	159.468	1.7	-0.7	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,286.262	2,286.262	2,283.871	2.6	-0.1	-0.1
Other goods and services		528.754	529.482	535.089	1.1	1.2	1.1
Commodity and service group
All items		328.232	330.671	332.572	3.9	1.3	0.6
Commodities		217.585	218.184	220.459	1.4	1.3	1.0
Commodities less food & beverages		159.455	160.586	162.528	0.6	1.9	1.2
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.894	226.103	231.787	2.7	4.0	2.5
Durables		100.869	100.678	100.254	-2.2	-0.6	-0.4
Services		426.740	430.886	432.386	5.3	1.3	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		317.514	320.097	321.901	4.0	1.4	0.6
All items less shelter		282.256	284.361	286.310	2.9	1.4	0.7
Commodities less food		164.782	165.807	167.762	0.5	1.8	1.2
Nondurables		280.347	281.534	285.776	2.7	1.9	1.5
Nondurables less food		229.540	232.370	237.869	2.4	3.6	2.4
Services less rent of shelter(3)		430.692	436.505	437.676	5.0	1.6	0.3
Services less medical care services		412.462	416.579	417.923	5.4	1.3	0.3
Energy		386.994	399.743	408.314	6.4	5.5	2.1
All items less energy		326.798	328.712	330.275	3.7	1.1	0.5
All items less food and energy		325.020	327.366	328.694	3.8	1.1	0.4
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.