Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) A decrease in food at home prices helped offset higher prices for recreation. (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 1.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) This is the eighth consecutive month of year-over increases less than 2.0 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent over the year. Food prices rose 4.8 percent. Energy prices fell 11.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.4 percent for the month of November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.9 percent, influenced by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-2.7 percent). Prices for food away from home inched up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 5.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 4.5 percent, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs (7.4 percent).

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.3 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 2.1 percent, and prices for electricity decreased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 11.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-21.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 11.6 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 3.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in November. Higher prices for recreation (1.4 percent), alcoholic beverages (1.0 percent), and education and communication (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.6 percent) and used cars and trucks (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (3.8 percent), medical care (3.1 percent), and shelter (1.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in motor vehicle insurance (-6.9 percent) and apparel (-2.0 percent).

Table A. West region 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	0.5	2.6	0.5	2.5	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9
February	0.1	2.1	0.6	3.0	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1
March	0.2	1.5	0.3	3.1	0.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5
April	0.5	1.8	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.2	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3
May	0.5	1.5	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8
June	0.2	1.6	0.0	2.5	0.2	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2
July	0.1	1.4	0.1	2.5	0.1	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7
August	0.0	1.5	0.2	2.7	0.2	3.6	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9
September	0.3	2.0	0.5	2.9	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6
October	0.3	2.3	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2
November	-0.2	2.3	0.0	3.1	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4
December	0.0	2.5	0.1	3.1	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8

The December 2020 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on January 13, 2021.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 6,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Sep. 2020	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Nov. 2019	Sep. 2020	Oct. 2020
Expenditure category
All Items	276.422	276.876	276.875	1.4	0.2	0.0
All items (December 1977=100)	446.821	447.555	447.552
Food and beverages	279.730	280.616	279.784	4.8	0.0	-0.3
Food	280.332	281.114	280.006	4.8	-0.1	-0.4
Food at home	262.926	263.830	261.562	4.5	-0.5	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products	270.310	272.534	267.946	0.6	-0.9	-1.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	278.513	277.137	279.246	7.4	0.3	0.8
Dairy and related products	248.005	245.132	247.654	6.0	-0.1	1.0
Fruits and vegetables	348.551	353.422	343.848	4.0	-1.3	-2.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	185.622	186.157	186.217	6.4	0.3	0.0
Other food at home	220.032	221.543	217.966	2.9	-0.9	-1.6
Food away from home	302.893	303.505	303.997	5.2	0.4	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	268.566	270.735	273.357	5.1	1.8	1.0
Housing	308.769	308.892	308.596	2.2	-0.1	-0.1
Shelter	356.135	356.345	356.170	1.6	0.0	0.0
Rent of primary residence(1)	380.372	380.975	381.102	2.1	0.2	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	374.761	375.910	375.921	2.0	0.3	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	374.752	375.899	375.899	2.0	0.3	0.0
Fuels and utilities	318.589	321.045	318.237	4.3	-0.1	-0.9
Household energy	268.275	271.279	267.499	5.1	-0.3	-1.4
Energy services(1)	270.855	273.675	269.487	5.1	-0.5	-1.5
Electricity(1)	301.408	305.498	301.284	3.6	0.0	-1.4
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	215.112	214.914	210.442	11.6	-2.2	-2.1
Household furnishings and operations	139.340	138.343	138.617	5.0	-0.5	0.2
Apparel	114.364	114.301	112.429	-2.0	-1.7	-1.6
Transportation	210.598	211.599	212.040	-5.0	0.7	0.2
Private transportation	208.569	208.300	208.483	-4.8	0.0	0.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)	102.215	102.645	103.300	3.8	1.1	0.6
New vehicles	149.776	149.673	149.975	1.6	0.1	0.2
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	104.021	103.950	104.147	1.6	0.1	0.2
New cars(4)	148.391	147.834	148.081	1.3	-0.2	0.2
Used cars and trucks	146.170	147.731	146.016	10.5	-0.1	-1.2
Motor fuel	230.476	226.601	223.629	-21.7	-3.0	-1.3
Gasoline (all types)	229.834	225.976	222.923	-21.7	-3.0	-1.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	226.172	222.260	219.156	-22.2	-3.1	-1.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	222.975	220.112	218.198	-19.6	-2.1	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	230.049	226.711	223.957	-19.5	-2.6	-1.2
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	778.628	783.498	785.488	-6.9	0.9	0.3
Medical Care	543.151	540.015	539.106	3.1	-0.7	-0.2
Medical care commodities	426.720	424.610	423.166	2.3	-0.8	-0.3
Medical care services	579.105	575.649	574.911	3.2	-0.7	-0.1
Professional services	366.869	365.995	365.380	1.6	-0.4	-0.2
Recreation(3)	115.061	116.023	117.628	1.6	2.2	1.4
Education and communication(3)	140.343	140.777	141.387	2.2	0.7	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,511.401	1,512.115	1,513.933	1.2	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services	457.191	458.694	459.954	1.0	0.6	0.3
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	276.422	276.876	276.875	1.4	0.2	0.0
Commodities	191.281	191.257	190.633	0.8	-0.3	-0.3
Commodities less food & beverages	148.480	148.113	147.598	-1.9	-0.6	-0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	189.214	188.327	186.996	-6.9	-1.2	-0.7
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	241.891	240.436	239.460	-8.4	-1.0	-0.4
Durables	109.930	109.913	109.943	4.1	0.0	0.0
Services	355.533	356.485	357.159	1.7	0.5	0.2
Rent of shelter(2)	379.313	379.501	379.313	1.6	0.0	0.0
Transportation services	296.416	302.720	308.576	-3.9	4.1	1.9
Other services	365.053	367.046	370.056	2.5	1.4	0.8
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	264.298	264.901	264.938	1.2	0.2	0.0
All items less food	275.926	276.327	276.506	0.8	0.2	0.1
All items less shelter	245.148	245.697	245.763	1.2	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food	152.881	152.582	152.149	-1.6	-0.5	-0.3
Nondurables	234.416	234.389	233.294	-0.4	-0.5	-0.5
Nondurables less food	195.084	194.395	193.319	-5.9	-0.9	-0.6
Nondurables less food and apparel	244.386	243.316	242.722	-7.0	-0.7	-0.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)	365.092	367.120	368.966	1.7	1.1	0.5
Services less medical care services	339.969	341.212	341.980	1.5	0.6	0.2
Energy	250.416	249.409	246.044	-11.3	-1.7	-1.3
All items less energy	280.516	281.074	281.300	2.3	0.3	0.1
All items less food and energy	281.338	281.857	282.323	1.8	0.4	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	143.988	144.027	143.829	2.7	-0.1	-0.1
Energy commodities	234.889	231.195	228.422	-21.3	-2.8	-1.2
Services less energy services	361.799	362.649	363.601	1.5	0.5	0.3
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) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.