Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that during this period higher shelter and food prices helped counter lower gasoline prices. (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 increased 3.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 6.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.7 percent, while prices for food away from home were virtually unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.3 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 0.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.8 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 3.4 percent, and prices for electricity edged up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 6.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (14.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 7.0 percent, and prices for electricity decreased 2.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in December. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.6 percent), recreation (0.5 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.2 percent), education and communication (-0.5 percent), and medical care (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.3 percent) and recreation (4.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in apparel (-1.4 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.8	2.1	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1
February	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7
March	1.0	2.0	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7
April	0.0	1.5	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7
May	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5
June	-0.4	1.6	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2
July	-0.1	1.9	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5
August	0.6	2.3	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8
September	0.4	2.2	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1
October	0.8	3.0	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1
November	-1.0	2.1	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6
December	-0.7	1.9	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6

The January 2018 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on February 14, 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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura 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

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2017	Nov. 2017	Dec. 2017	Dec. 2016	Oct. 2017	Nov. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	258.883	259.135	259.220	3.6	0.1	0.0
All items (1967=100)	764.857	765.598	765.850	-	-	-
Food and beverages	255.959	256.382	257.263	2.1	0.5	0.3
Food	256.111	256.505	257.669	2.3	0.6	0.5
Food at home	253.154	253.543	255.375	0.7	0.9	0.7
Food away from home	255.903	256.297	256.623	4.3	0.3	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	238.576	239.398	236.145	-0.5	-1.0	-1.4
Housing	292.390	291.580	292.603	3.6	0.1	0.4
Shelter	335.768	335.881	336.552	4.3	0.2	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)	353.494	355.126	356.235	5.0	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	347.802	349.187	350.555	4.4	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	347.782	349.168	350.535	4.4	0.8	0.4
Fuels and utilities	311.873	304.861	306.585	-0.1	-1.7	0.6
Household energy	270.310	261.185	263.429	-3.5	-2.5	0.9
Energy services(1)	269.104	259.764	262.023	-3.5	-2.6	0.9
Electricity(1)	305.746	305.281	305.653	-2.4	0.0	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	231.530	200.677	207.555	-7.0	-10.4	3.4
Household furnishings and operations	116.083	114.541	116.428	0.8	0.3	1.6
Apparel	108.180	103.689	102.476	-1.4	-5.3	-1.2
Transportation	199.790	204.715	203.134	7.7	1.7	-0.8
Private transportation	195.800	200.934	199.740	8.4	2.0	-0.6
Motor fuel	235.084	248.485	239.908	15.0	2.1	-3.5
Gasoline (all types)	229.829	242.785	234.242	14.9	1.9	-3.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	229.964	243.118	234.420	15.0	1.9	-3.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	222.150	233.178	225.746	14.6	1.6	-3.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	220.764	232.503	224.929	14.4	1.9	-3.3
Medical care	476.461	476.833	475.129	2.1	-0.3	-0.4
Recreation(5)	108.214	108.176	108.741	4.1	0.5	0.5
Education and communication(5)	144.561	144.767	144.025	1.6	-0.4	-0.5
Other goods and services	415.032	413.485	411.138	4.6	-0.9	-0.6
Commodity and service group
All items	258.883	259.135	259.220	3.6	0.1	0.0
Commodities	177.190	177.916	177.022	3.0	-0.1	-0.5
Commodities less food & beverages	136.079	136.892	135.321	3.8	-0.6	-1.1
Nondurables less food & beverages	180.167	181.792	178.761	6.0	-0.8	-1.7
Durables	92.836	92.847	92.718	-0.2	-0.1	-0.1
Services	331.604	331.427	332.391	3.9	0.2	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	249.457	249.702	249.855	3.7	0.2	0.1
All items less shelter	225.188	225.503	225.322	3.1	0.1	-0.1
Commodities less food	140.471	141.294	139.660	3.6	-0.6	-1.2
Nondurables	219.074	220.181	218.884	3.9	-0.1	-0.6
Nondurables less food	185.805	187.412	184.325	5.5	-0.8	-1.6
Services less rent of shelter(2)	334.750	334.144	335.417	3.2	0.2	0.4
Services less medical care services	319.365	319.211	320.260	4.1	0.3	0.3
Energy	249.477	254.283	249.827	6.7	0.1	-1.8
All items less energy	261.559	261.468	261.896	3.4	0.1	0.2
All items less food and energy	262.829	262.656	262.960	3.6	0.0	0.1
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.