Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged down 0.1 percent for the two months ending in July 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard J. Holden noted that the July decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline and electricity. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 2.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices increased 0.7 percent, largely the result of an increase 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 advanced 0.9 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.2 percent, and prices for food at home rose 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.4 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.2 percent, and prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index decreased 8.5 percent for the two months ending in July. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-9.8 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 8.6 percent, but prices for natural gas service increased 3.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 0.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (1.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 1.1 percent, but prices for electricity declined 1.3 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 (2.4 percent), education and communication (1.9 percent), and shelter (0.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.9 percent) and other goods and services (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.7 percent) and medical care (3.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in new and used motor vehicles (-2.2 percent).

The September 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2019.

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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Riverside and San Bernardino 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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2019	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019	Jul. 2018	May 2019	Jun. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	105.959	-	105.816	2.6	-0.1	-
Food and beverages	103.160	-	103.941	2.3	0.8	-
Food	103.208	-	104.110	2.4	0.9	-
Food at home	100.731	100.789	101.244	0.6	0.5	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	100.830	-	104.160	0.5	3.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	99.455	-	99.090	-2.1	-0.4	-
Dairy and related products	102.982	-	101.720	2.3	-1.2	-
Fruits and vegetables	99.830	-	100.899	3.0	1.1	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	103.745	-	106.864	4.9	3.0	-
Other food at home	100.187	-	99.291	-1.2	-0.9	-
Food away from home	105.717	-	107.013	4.2	1.2	-
Food away from home	105.717	-	107.013	4.2	1.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	102.352	-	101.082	0.3	-1.2	-
Housing	106.073	-	106.527	4.1	0.4	-
Shelter	106.395	106.893	107.354	4.7	0.9	0.4
Rent of primary residence	105.885	106.392	106.753	4.3	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	106.557	107.110	107.627	4.9	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	106.557	107.110	107.627	4.9	1.0	0.5
Fuels and utilities	108.684	-	104.852	1.7	-3.5	-
Household energy	105.997	99.283	100.097	-0.8	-5.6	0.8
Energy services	106.254	99.490	100.191	-0.7	-5.7	0.7
Electricity	104.577	95.603	95.590	-1.3	-8.6	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	112.053	112.939	116.109	1.1	3.6	2.8
Household furnishings and operations	99.618	-	100.647	1.7	1.0	-
Apparel	98.815	-	101.186	-0.3	2.4	-
Transportation	112.441	-	108.664	0.2	-3.4	-
Private transportation	112.415	-	108.785	0.2	-3.2	-
New and used motor vehicles	100.163	-	100.963	-2.2	0.8	-
New vehicles	101.074	-	100.553	-1.8	-0.5	-
Used cars and trucks	101.393	-	104.139	1.1	2.7	-
Motor fuel	133.899	124.565	120.735	1.5	-9.8	-3.1
Gasoline (all types)	134.064	124.713	120.868	1.5	-9.8	-3.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)	134.497	125.078	121.129	1.4	-9.9	-3.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)	133.079	124.892	120.917	2.6	-9.1	-3.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)	131.896	122.704	119.420	1.6	-9.5	-2.7
Motor vehicle insurance	110.121	-	110.121	3.1	0.0	-
Medical care	102.416	-	103.777	3.1	1.3	-
Recreation	101.502	-	100.590	1.0	-0.9	-
Education and communication	103.586	-	105.592	1.8	1.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	111.840	-	112.161	5.4	0.3	-
Other goods and services	106.566	-	105.894	2.6	-0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All items	105.959	-	105.816	2.6	-0.1	-
Commodities	105.930	-	104.892	0.7	-1.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages	107.784	-	105.529	-0.4	-2.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	112.304	-	107.950	0.0	-3.9	-
Durables	101.277	-	102.044	-1.0	0.8	-
Services	105.977	-	106.384	3.8	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	106.206	-	105.958	2.6	-0.2	-
All items less shelter	105.716	-	104.955	1.4	-0.7	-
Commodities less food	107.588	-	105.369	-0.4	-2.1	-
Nondurables	107.445	-	105.820	1.2	-1.5	-
Nondurables less food	111.711	-	107.541	0.1	-3.7	-
Services less rent of shelter	105.406	-	105.064	2.6	-0.3	-
Services less medical care services	106.115	-	106.494	3.8	0.4	-
Energy	123.716	115.338	113.202	0.7	-8.5	-1.9
All items less energy	104.365	-	105.153	2.8	0.8	-
All items less food and energy	104.581	-	105.347	2.8	0.7	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.