Prices in the Seattle Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 1.6 percent for the two months ending in June 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and 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 rose 1.6 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices fell 12.7 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 0.8 percent, and prices for food at home increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices moved up 2.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.0 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 2.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 8.8 percent for the two months ending in June. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (13.1 percent). Prices for electricity rose 3.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 2.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 12.7 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-22.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 6.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 5.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (2.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-3.4 percent) and recreation (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.5 percent) and household furnishings and operations (2.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in apparel (-2.8 percent).

Table A. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U bi-monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2010		2011		2012		2013		2014		2015
	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual
February	0.2	0.6	1.2	1.5	0.4	2.7	0.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	0.2	1.1
April	0.2	0.3	0.8	2.1	0.9	2.9	0.4	1.2	1.6	2.4	0.9	0.4
June	-0.2	-0.5	0.8	3.2	0.7	2.7	0.8	1.4	0.4	2.0	1.6	1.6
August	0.7	0.2	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.7	0.0	1.1	-0.2	1.8
October	-0.2	0.4	0.9	3.8	0.5	2.3	0.0	0.6	0.3	2.1
December	-0.2	0.6	-0.5	3.5	-1.4	1.4	-0.7	1.3	-1.1	1.7

The August 2015 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton is scheduled to be released September 16, 2015.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Apr. 2015	May 2015	Jun. 2015	Jun. 2014	Apr. 2015	May 2015
Expenditure category
All items	247.611	-	251.622	1.6	1.6	-
All items (1967=100)	754.815	-	767.041	-	-	-
Food and beverages	256.016	-	257.481	2.7	0.6	-
Food	259.151	-	260.664	2.8	0.6	-
Food at home	247.852	246.188	248.837	2.7	0.4	1.1
Food away from home	277.102	-	279.419	3.0	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages	219.413	-	220.375	1.6	0.4	-
Housing	270.093	-	275.245	5.0	1.9	-
Shelter	301.863	304.249	307.976	5.5	2.0	1.2
Rent of primary residence (1)	304.919	306.838	308.007	5.7	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	315.696	318.507	319.920	5.3	1.3	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	315.696	318.507	319.920	5.3	1.3	0.4
Fuels and utilities	249.357	-	255.408	4.2	2.4	-
Household energy	227.816	227.251	235.566	4.7	3.4	3.7
Energy services (1)	270.770	270.066	280.430	6.0	3.6	3.8
Electricity (1)	284.528	281.827	295.114	6.1	3.7	4.7
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	185.940	191.601	191.211	5.3	2.8	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations	173.901	-	174.495	2.0	0.3	-
Apparel	132.471	-	127.922	-2.8	-3.4	-
Transportation	211.786	-	225.122	-5.7	6.3	-
Private transportation	218.049	-	229.111	-7.0	5.1	-
Motor fuel	293.695	326.264	331.935	-22.0	13.0	1.7
Gasoline (all types)	299.550	332.989	338.777	-22.0	13.1	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	328.022	365.329	370.618	-22.5	13.0	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	232.933	257.283	263.576	-20.9	13.2	2.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	265.464	294.182	301.639	-20.4	13.6	2.5
Medical care	385.713	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation (5)	96.219	-	95.725	0.3	-0.5	-
Education and communication (5)	137.954	-	138.086	0.1	0.1	-
Other goods and services	396.734	-	395.732	1.7	-0.3	-
Commodity and service group
All items	247.611	-	251.622	1.6	1.6	-
Commodities	188.845	-	191.091	-2.9	1.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages	155.498	-	158.047	-6.6	1.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	183.938	-	188.021	-9.8	2.2	-
Durables	126.310	-	127.333	-1.4	0.8	-
Services	302.479	-	308.099	4.3	1.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	241.359	-	245.706	1.8	1.8	-
All items less shelter	227.270	-	230.436	-0.4	1.4	-
Commodities less food	158.231	-	160.720	-6.1	1.6	-
Nondurables	218.540	-	221.398	-3.3	1.3	-
Nondurables less food	187.029	-	190.880	-8.9	2.1	-
Services less rent of shelter (2)	310.863	-	315.888	2.7	1.6	-
Services less medical care services	293.692	-	299.928	4.7	2.1	-
Energy	267.242	283.504	290.692	-12.7	8.8	2.5
All items less energy	249.104	-	251.936	2.8	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	247.640	-	250.692	2.8	1.2	-
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 November 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.