Prices in the greater San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged for the two months ending August 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the index was influenced by higher prices for shelter and lower prices for gasoline. (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 advanced 3.0 percent. (See chart 1.) Energy prices advanced 1.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the prices for gasoline and natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.9 percent since August 2013.

 

Food

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent from June to August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.8 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.9 percent. Prices for food at home rose 5.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 2.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 4.3 percent for the two months ending in August 2014. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.9 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 4.6 percent, but prices for natural gas service advanced 1.0 percent during the past two months.

Energy prices advanced 1.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (2.0 percent) and natural gas service (11.6 percent). Prices for electricity declined 2.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and moved up 0.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (1.8 percent) and shelter (1.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.8 percent) and other goods and services (2.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-1.1 percent) and recreation (-0.5 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose CPI-U bi-monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2009		2010		2011		2012		2013		2014
	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual
February	1.7	1.2	0.8	1.8	1.0	1.7	1.1	3.0	1.3	2.4	1.2	2.4
April	0.8	0.8	0.7	1.7	1.8	2.8	0.9	2.1	0.8	2.4	1.2	2.8
June	0.8	0.2	0.2	1.1	-0.2	2.4	0.3	2.6	0.5	2.6	0.7	3.0
August	0.0	0.2	-0.1	1.0	0.4	2.9	0.6	2.8	0.1	2.0	0.0	3.0
October	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.9	0.3	3.2	0.7	3.2	0.2	1.6
December	-0.8	2.6	-0.2	1.5	-0.4	2.9	-1.4	2.2	-0.4	2.6

 

CPI-W

In August, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 249.877, down 0.1 percent from June. The CPI-W increased 2.9 percent over the year.

The October 2014 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is scheduled to be released on November 20, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. (PDT).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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 88 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Solano Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the San Francisco Information Office at (415) 625-2270 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT.

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

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jun. 2014	Jul. 2014	Aug. 2014	Aug. 2013	Jun. 2014	Jul. 2014
Expenditure category
All items	253.317	-	253.354	3.0	0.0	-
All items (1967=100)	778.767	-	778.880	-	-	-
Food and beverages	252.577	-	255.068	4.1	1.0	-
Food	253.059	-	254.888	3.9	0.7	-
Food at home	246.347	247.764	248.412	5.4	0.8	0.3
Food away from home	260.591	-	262.111	2.2	0.6	-
Alcoholic beverages	252.158	-	262.361	5.7	4.0	-
Housing	277.114	-	279.766	4.2	1.0	-
Shelter	311.497	313.828	315.196	4.8	1.2	0.4
Rent of primary residence (1)	348.153	350.089	352.421	5.8	1.2	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	336.933	338.435	339.576	4.7	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	336.933	338.435	339.576	4.7	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities	334.402	-	331.836	2.7	-0.8	-
Household energy	312.877	315.625	302.311	0.3	-3.4	-4.2
Energy services (1)	312.449	315.167	302.077	0.3	-3.3	-4.2
Electricity (1)	330.998	331.049	315.630	-2.3	-4.6	-4.7
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	259.055	268.522	261.626	11.6	1.0	-2.6
Household furnishings and operations	132.490	-	132.845	0.3	0.3	-
Apparel	116.751	-	118.890	0.8	1.8	-
Transportation	206.091	-	198.602	0.4	-3.6	-
Private transportation	193.172	-	187.215	0.1	-3.1	-
Motor fuel	312.578	308.499	297.489	2.0	-4.8	-3.6
Gasoline (all types)	311.441	307.346	296.273	2.0	-4.9	-3.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	313.410	309.233	297.943	2.0	-4.9	-3.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	286.926	283.335	273.356	2.0	-4.7	-3.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	288.192	284.477	274.718	1.9	-4.7	-3.4
Medical care	NA	NA	NA	-	-	-
Recreation (5)	110.575	-	109.846	-0.5	-0.7	-
Education and communication (5)	142.185	-	141.870	-1.1	-0.2	-
Other goods and services	427.778	-	427.337	2.5	-0.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items	253.317	-	253.354	3.0	0.0	-
Commodities	185.848	-	184.736	1.3	-.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	147.662	-	145.071	-.7	-1.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	192.862	-	189.695	.6	-1.6	-
Durables	104.630	-	102.610	-2.5	-1.9	-
Services	309.952	-	310.950	3.8	.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	245.248	-	245.266	2.7	0.0	-
All items less shelter	230.971	-	229.368	1.8	-.7	-
Commodities less food	152.479	-	150.288	-.4	-1.4	-
Nondurables	224.536	-	224.062	2.5	-.2	-
Nondurables less food	197.682	-	195.409	1.0	-1.1	-
Services less rent of shelter (2)	324.229	-	321.638	2.5	-.8	-
Services less medical care services	300.753	-	301.818	3.6	.4	-
Energy	316.281	314.710	302.711	1.3	-4.3	-3.8
All items less energy	253.079	-	253.827	3.1	.3	-
All items less food and energy	253.872	-	254.448	2.9	.2	-
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.