Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.6 percent for the two months ending in October 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (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 2.7 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices rose 4.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.0 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 1.8 percent for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home moved down 3.2 percent, and prices for food away from home declined 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices were unchanged. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.1 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home declined 2.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.4 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (2.9 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service decreased 0.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 4.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (9.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 4.4 percent, but prices for natural gas service fell 10.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.9 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (3.7 percent), other goods and services (1.5 percent), and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (7.4 percent) and shelter (4.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in household furnishings and operations (-3.3 percent).

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

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual
February	1.1	3.0	1.3	2.4	1.2	2.4	1.0	2.5	0.9	3.0	0.8	3.4
April	0.9	2.1	0.8	2.4	1.2	2.8	1.1	2.4	0.7	2.7	1.1	3.8
June	0.3	2.6	0.5	2.6	0.7	3.0	0.6	2.3	0.6	2.7	0.3	3.5
August	0.6	2.8	0.1	2.0	0.0	3.0	0.3	2.6	0.7	3.1	0.2	3.0
October	0.7	3.2	0.2	1.6	0.5	3.2	0.4	2.6	0.9	3.6	0.6	2.7
December	-1.4	2.2	-0.4	2.6	-0.9	2.7	-0.3	3.2	-0.3	3.5

The December 2017 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is scheduled to be released on January 12, 2018.

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 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, 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: (800) 877-8339.

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-
	Aug. 2017	Sep. 2017	Oct. 2017	Oct. 2016	Aug. 2017	Sep. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	275.893	-	277.570	2.7	0.6	-
All items (1967=100)	848.172	-	853.328	-	-	-
Food and beverages	270.544	-	266.579	0.3	-1.5	-
Food	270.880	-	266.052	0.0	-1.8	-
Food at home	251.657	248.595	243.681	-2.0	-3.2	-2.0
Food away from home	294.114	-	293.219	2.1	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	272.188	-	278.161	3.5	2.2	-
Housing	326.813	-	328.638	3.5	0.6	-
Shelter	372.764	371.230	375.480	4.3	0.7	1.1
Rent of primary residence(1)	419.229	419.055	421.940	4.9	0.6	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	401.482	401.668	404.636	4.8	0.8	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	401.482	401.668	404.636	4.8	0.8	0.7
Fuels and utilities	395.770	-	395.320	1.4	-0.1	-
Household energy	353.682	350.134	352.927	-0.6	-0.2	0.8
Energy services(1)	355.214	351.470	354.321	-0.6	-0.3	0.8
Electricity(1)	372.022	372.022	372.022	4.4	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	303.968	293.288	301.422	-10.6	-0.8	2.8
Household furnishings and operations	132.604	-	131.438	-3.3	-0.9	-
Apparel	115.919	-	120.200	-0.6	3.7	-
Transportation	189.392	-	193.101	4.3	2.0	-
Private transportation	182.032	-	184.814	4.8	1.5	-
Motor fuel	221.035	233.253	227.464	9.8	2.9	-2.5
Gasoline (all types)	220.206	232.403	226.543	9.8	2.9	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	220.161	232.616	226.693	9.9	3.0	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	205.492	216.406	211.107	9.8	2.7	-2.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	209.490	219.775	214.514	9.1	2.4	-2.4
Medical care	489.826	-	493.957	1.5	0.8	-
Recreation(5)	114.119	-	114.440	1.0	0.3	-
Education and communication(5)	140.876	-	142.379	0.2	1.1	-
Other goods and services	460.979	-	467.785	7.4	1.5	-
Commodity and service group
All items	275.893	-	277.570	2.7	0.6	-
Commodities	184.193	-	184.171	1.2	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages	137.732	-	139.373	2.0	1.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	179.600	-	183.377	4.5	2.1	-
Durables	97.233	-	96.845	-2.2	-0.4	-
Services	352.340	-	355.359	3.3	0.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	267.156	-	268.730	2.8	0.6	-
All items less shelter	235.803	-	237.011	1.5	0.5	-
Commodities less food	143.447	-	145.244	2.1	1.3	-
Nondurables	226.283	-	226.473	2.1	0.1	-
Nondurables less food	186.636	-	190.578	4.4	2.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	341.512	-	345.126	1.7	1.1	-
Services less medical care services	344.046	-	346.961	3.5	0.8	-
Energy	272.988	279.620	276.885	4.7	1.4	-1.0
All items less energy	279.372	-	280.953	2.6	0.6	-
All items less food and energy	281.513	-	284.056	3.0	0.9	-
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.