Prices in the Seattle Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 1.0 percent for the two months ending in February 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the February 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 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices jumped 16.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.5 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home moved up 2.0 percent, and prices for food away from home rose 1.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.9 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home inched down 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 5.3 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.8 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 2.3 percent, while prices for natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 16.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (31.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 3.6 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (2.7 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.7 percent), and shelter (0.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-0.9 percent) and medical care (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.9 percent) and other goods and services (4.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-4.3 percent) and apparel (-2.4 percent).

Table A. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton 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	0.4	2.7	0.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	0.2	1.1	0.2	2.2	1.0	3.4
April	0.9	2.9	0.4	1.2	1.6	2.4	0.9	0.4	1.1	2.5
June	0.7	2.7	0.8	1.4	0.4	2.0	1.6	1.6	0.9	1.8
August	0.3	2.7	0.0	1.1	-0.2	1.8	0.0	1.8	0.3	2.1
October	0.5	2.3	0.0	0.6	0.3	2.1	-0.3	1.2	0.0	2.4
December	-1.4	1.4	-0.7	1.3	-1.1	1.7	-0.2	2.2	0.0	2.6

The April 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton is scheduled to be released on May 12, 2017.

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-
	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017	Feb. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	256.821	-	259.503	3.4	1.0	-
All items (1967=100)	782.889	-	791.065	-	-	-
Food and beverages	259.388	-	263.361	1.7	1.5	-
Food	261.705	-	265.733	1.6	1.5	-
Food at home	242.296	242.755	247.070	-0.2	2.0	1.8
Food away from home	291.542	-	294.503	3.9	1.0	-
Alcoholic beverages	230.991	-	234.344	3.3	1.5	-
Housing	294.303	-	297.036	5.8	0.9	-
Shelter	335.588	334.453	337.720	6.9	0.6	1.0
Rent of primary residence(1)	340.166	341.841	342.428	6.4	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	348.636	350.553	352.477	6.0	1.1	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	348.636	350.553	352.477	6.0	1.1	0.5
Fuels and utilities	254.291	-	261.088	2.8	2.7	-
Household energy	230.657	237.026	237.005	2.5	2.8	0.0
Energy services(1)	275.855	280.925	280.925	2.0	1.8	0.0
Electricity(1)	296.616	303.329	303.329	1.7	2.3	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	167.218	167.251	167.251	3.6	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	171.051	-	173.949	0.2	1.7	-
Apparel	121.373	-	124.659	-2.4	2.7	-
Transportation	209.597	-	214.733	6.4	2.5	-
Private transportation	216.415	-	220.711	6.6	2.0	-
Motor fuel	279.196	302.758	300.672	31.8	7.7	-0.7
Gasoline (all types)	284.908	309.180	306.989	31.9	7.8	-0.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	308.409	335.495	332.696	32.0	7.9	-0.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	227.378	243.654	242.573	32.4	6.7	-0.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	265.200	284.529	284.424	31.4	7.2	0.0
Medical care	400.133	-	398.649	1.3	-0.4	-
Recreation(5)	94.098	-	94.719	-1.8	0.7	-
Education and communication(5)	135.822	-	134.627	-4.3	-0.9	-
Other goods and services	403.542	-	405.421	4.0	0.5	-
Commodity and service group
All items	256.821	-	259.503	3.4	1.0	-
Commodities	185.039	-	188.966	2.4	2.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages	148.625	-	152.426	2.9	2.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	175.378	-	181.883	7.2	3.7	-
Durables	121.296	-	122.630	-2.2	1.1	-
Services	323.726	-	325.218	4.0	0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	250.334	-	253.215	3.6	1.2	-
All items less shelter	226.808	-	229.704	1.5	1.3	-
Commodities less food	152.049	-	155.843	2.9	2.5	-
Nondurables	215.590	-	220.915	4.0	2.5	-
Nondurables less food	179.976	-	186.263	6.8	3.5	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	317.486	-	318.242	0.5	0.2	-
Services less medical care services	315.287	-	317.103	4.3	0.6	-
Energy	261.026	275.847	274.834	16.1	5.3	-0.4
All items less energy	259.387	-	261.420	2.7	0.8	-
All items less food and energy	259.237	-	260.935	2.9	0.7	-
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.