Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the April decrease was influenced by lower prices for 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 advanced 0.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.7 percent over the year. Food prices rose 3.7 percent. Energy prices fell 17.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.6 percent, and prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.7 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.8 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 2.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 7.4 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-12.1 percent). Prices for electricity decreased 1.0 percent, but prices for natural gas service increased 3.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 17.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-27.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 9.2 percent, and prices for electricity increased 2.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy were unchanged in April. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.6 percent), other goods and services (1.2 percent), and shelter (0.4 percent) helped counter lower prices for apparel (-5.7 percent) and medical care (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (3.6 percent) and shelter (3.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-6.4 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1
February	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4
March	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9
April	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7
May	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1
June	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3
July	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3
August	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0
September	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0
October	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2
November	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2
December	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0

The May 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2020.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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-Long Beach-Anaheim. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles and Orange 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-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Feb. 2020	Mar. 2020	Apr. 2020	Apr. 2019	Feb. 2020	Mar. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	278.657	276.589	275.853	0.7	-1.0	-0.3
All items (1967=100)	823.275	817.166	814.991	-	-	-
Food and beverages	272.546	271.669	276.101	3.9	1.3	1.6
Food	274.138	273.203	276.185	3.7	0.7	1.1
Food at home	259.080	258.171	262.351	2.4	1.3	1.6
Cereals and bakery products	276.386	271.720	284.534	5.0	2.9	4.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	279.993	283.766	288.203	3.4	2.9	1.6
Dairy and related products	254.288	250.076	260.443	7.1	2.4	4.1
Fruits and vegetables	352.276	348.884	348.901	1.9	-1.0	0.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	260.897	261.974	267.840	1.5	2.7	2.2
Other food at home	197.475	196.346	196.149	-1.2	-0.7	-0.1
Food away from home	286.037	285.087	286.872	4.8	0.3	0.6
Food away from home	286.037	285.087	286.872	4.8	0.3	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	234.278	234.149	255.200	6.1	8.9	9.0
Housing	321.211	321.162	322.624	3.2	0.4	0.5
Shelter	372.271	372.238	373.697	3.3	0.4	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)	396.346	397.220	398.555	4.5	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	386.813	387.573	389.571	3.9	0.7	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	386.791	387.550	389.549	3.9	0.7	0.5
Fuels and utilities	335.785	332.849	332.824	3.4	-0.9	0.0
Household energy	289.442	285.837	285.806	4.3	-1.3	0.0
Energy services(2)	288.050	284.438	284.472	4.4	-1.2	0.0
Electricity(2)	336.323	336.323	332.952	2.9	-1.0	-1.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	227.580	216.079	223.100	9.2	-2.0	3.2
Household furnishings and operations	118.423	119.239	121.095	1.6	2.3	1.6
Apparel	114.583	109.624	103.359	-6.4	-9.8	-5.7
Transportation	214.885	206.780	196.441	-12.1	-8.6	-5.0
Private transportation	211.600	205.655	195.216	-11.2	-7.7	-5.1
New and used motor vehicles(4)	91.527	90.780	90.854	-1.2	-0.7	0.1
New vehicles(1)	171.904	171.255	170.766	0.4	-0.7	-0.3
Used cars and trucks(1)	263.406	269.562	266.420	-1.0	1.1	-1.2
Motor fuel	273.331	252.972	222.500	-27.7	-18.6	-12.0
Gasoline (all types)	266.970	247.056	217.188	-27.8	-18.6	-12.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	266.790	246.587	216.272	-28.3	-18.9	-12.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	258.470	239.988	213.621	-26.0	-17.4	-11.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	256.459	238.851	212.267	-25.6	-17.2	-11.1
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	786.324	786.324	679.162	-12.4	-13.6	-13.6
Medical care	499.208	500.341	499.720	3.6	0.1	-0.1
Recreation(6)	108.757	107.776	108.317	2.8	-0.4	0.5
Education and communication(6)	149.002	148.729	149.159	1.5	0.1	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,961.158	1,960.820	1,963.667	3.7	0.1	0.1
Other goods and services	446.751	445.003	450.417	3.2	0.8	1.2
Commodity and service group
All items	278.657	276.589	275.853	0.7	-1.0	-0.3
Commodities	185.266	182.697	180.993	-2.9	-2.3	-0.9
Commodities less food & beverages	140.276	137.012	132.570	-8.2	-5.5	-3.2
Nondurables less food & beverages	192.518	185.427	176.017	-11.8	-8.6	-5.1
Durables	90.121	90.062	89.794	-2.1	-0.4	-0.3
Services	361.700	360.201	360.450	2.4	-0.3	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	269.046	266.878	266.142	0.5	-1.1	-0.3
All items less shelter	237.401	234.478	232.812	-1.1	-1.9	-0.7
Commodities less food	144.540	141.363	137.783	-7.4	-4.7	-2.5
Nondurables	233.736	229.726	227.215	-3.1	-2.8	-1.1
Nondurables less food	197.500	190.854	183.606	-10.2	-7.0	-3.8
Services less rent of shelter(3)	356.089	352.444	350.960	1.1	-1.4	-0.4
Services less medical care services	348.868	347.252	347.441	2.2	-0.4	0.1
Energy	281.014	266.478	246.634	-17.3	-12.2	-7.4
All items less energy	280.711	279.462	280.000	2.0	-0.3	0.2
All items less food and energy	282.124	280.815	280.885	1.7	-0.4	0.0
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.