Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent for the two months ending in May 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the May increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 4.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 2.8 percent. Energy prices advanced 5.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, May 2021–May 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2021	5.9	4.0
Jul 2021	6.5	4.9
Sep 2021	6.8	5.2
Nov 2021	7.9	5.4
Jan 2022	8.6	6.3
Mar 2022	10.0	6.9
May 2022	9.4	6.2
Jul 2022	9.2	6.2
Sep 2022	8.4	6.0
Nov 2022	7.5	6.4
Jan 2023	7.3	6.3
Mar 2023	4.6	5.9
May 2023	3.9	5.8
Jul 2023	3.4	5.1
Sep 2023	4.9	5.5
Nov 2023	4.3	5.1
Jan 2024	2.9	4.4
Mar 2024	4.3	4.7
May 2024	4.0	4.1

Food prices rose 1.3 percent for the two months ending in May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.2 percent, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 1.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.1 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 5.7 percent.

The energy index advanced 1.6 percent for the two months ending in May. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service fell 8.3 percent, and prices for electricity declined 2.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 5.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (6.9 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 9.0 percent, while prices for natural gas service declined 10.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (1.7 percent) and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-2.6 percent) and recreation (-2.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.4 percent) and medical care (7.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in household furnishings and operations (-6.5 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-4.0 percent).

The July 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on August 14, 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	May 2024	May 2023	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		133.144	-	133.943	4.0	0.6	-
Food and beverages		134.572	-	136.110	2.5	1.1	-
Food		135.797	-	137.539	2.8	1.3	-
Food at home		130.972	131.352	132.597	0.6	1.2	0.9
Cereals and bakery products		151.710	152.711	151.239	0.7	-0.3	-1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		133.675	133.487	137.414	4.1	2.8	2.9
Dairy and related products		110.810	114.168	117.146	-0.2	5.7	2.6
Fruits and vegetables		126.355	130.108	132.382	0.1	4.8	1.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		135.187	130.188	128.792	0.2	-4.7	-1.1
Other food at home		125.873	125.595	125.967	-1.7	0.1	0.3
Food away from home		143.003	-	144.912	5.7	1.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		111.830	-	109.952	-2.0	-1.7	-
Housing		139.682	-	140.216	5.4	0.4	-
Shelter		139.058	139.573	140.020	7.4	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence		143.807	144.379	144.724	5.7	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		138.189	138.996	139.557	8.2	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		138.189	138.996	139.557	8.2	1.0	0.4
Fuels and utilities		165.092	-	161.525	5.1	-2.2	-
Household energy		178.023	170.905	172.496	4.8	-3.1	0.9
Energy services		179.606	172.403	174.048	5.0	-3.1	1.0
Electricity		189.156	186.287	185.321	9.0	-2.0	-0.5
Utility (piped) gas service		150.015	125.888	137.624	-10.0	-8.3	9.3
Household furnishings and operations		118.505	-	119.219	-6.5	0.6	-
Apparel		113.242	-	110.325	-5.5	-2.6	-
Transportation		139.741	-	141.870	5.7	1.5	-
Private transportation		142.395	-	144.318	5.9	1.4	-
New and used motor vehicles		115.982	-	116.427	-4.0	0.4	-
New vehicles		114.308	-	113.916	-4.0	-0.3	-
Used cars and trucks		131.768	-	132.592	-8.8	0.6	-
Motor fuel		159.812	171.965	167.386	6.4	4.7	-2.7
Gasoline (all types)		160.072	172.675	168.062	6.9	5.0	-2.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		160.667	173.475	168.683	6.9	5.0	-2.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		160.426	172.705	168.459	6.8	5.0	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		157.043	168.867	164.894	6.8	5.0	-2.4
Medical care		127.704	-	129.844	7.3	1.7	-
Recreation		113.724	-	111.457	-0.5	-2.0	-
Education and communication		110.562	-	110.438	1.2	-0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		129.119	-	129.439	2.8	0.2	-
Other goods and services		125.499	-	127.541	1.0	1.6	-
Commodity and service group
All items		133.144	-	133.943	4.0	0.6	-
Commodities		126.329	-	127.732	-0.3	1.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		122.070	-	123.399	-1.7	1.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		131.823	-	134.833	2.2	2.3	-
Durables		111.816	-	111.302	-6.3	-0.5	-
Services		138.023	-	138.444	7.0	0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		133.537	-	134.247	3.8	0.5	-
All items less shelter		130.101	-	130.815	2.2	0.5	-
Commodities less food		121.711	-	122.931	-1.8	1.0	-
Nondurables		133.150	-	135.358	2.3	1.7	-
Nondurables less food		130.679	-	133.382	1.9	2.1	-
Services less rent of shelter		136.099	-	135.835	6.4	-0.2	-
Services less medical care services		138.922	-	139.358	7.3	0.3	-
Energy		167.262	172.176	169.912	5.8	1.6	-1.3
All items less energy		130.228	-	130.896	3.9	0.5	-
All items less food and energy		129.366	-	129.848	4.1	0.4	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.