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News Release Information

21-1486-SAN
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, Honolulu Area – July 2021

Area prices were up 0.8 percent over the past two months, up 4.6 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.8 percent for the two months ending in July 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July increase was influenced by higher prices for energy. (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 4.6 percent. Food prices increased 1.2 percent. Energy prices jumped 28.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.2 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.2 percent mainly due to higher prices for cereals and bakery products (3.1 percent). Prices for food away from home edged up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.2 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.9 percent since a year ago strongly influenced by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (8.2 percent) and cereals and bakery products (6.8 percent). Prices for food away from home decreased 0.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 6.6 percent for the two months ending in July. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (8.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 6.5 percent, and prices for gasoline moved up 5.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 28.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (37.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 25.2 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 19.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (10.8 percent), recreation (2.2 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-4.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (40.4 percent), recreation (4.5 percent), and shelter (3.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-0.2 percent).

The September 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on July 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in July was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
May
2021
Jun.
2021
Jul.
2021
Jul.
2020
May
2021
Jun.
2021

Expenditure category

All items

296.559-298.8204.60.8-

All items (1967=100)

816.420-822.644---

Food and beverages

310.456-311.0081.40.2-

Food

310.828-311.3611.20.2-

Food at home

305.642303.066306.3512.90.21.1

Cereals and bakery products

332.121-342.3236.83.1-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

301.948-302.8938.20.3-

Dairy and related products

250.028-248.6060.7-0.6-

Fruits and vegetables

371.481-371.381-1.50.0-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

395.671-392.5372.6-0.8-

Other food at home

283.043-282.5060.5-0.2-

Food away from home

308.513-308.816-0.70.1-

Alcoholic beverages

302.833-303.6854.70.3-

Housing

324.024-326.5784.20.8-

Shelter

355.946357.589356.8433.70.3-0.2

Rent of primary residence(2)

351.778350.480349.2232.2-0.7-0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

364.535365.606364.2982.9-0.1-0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

364.535365.606364.2982.9-0.1-0.4

Fuels and utilities

369.720-389.81111.75.4-

Household energy

286.611297.632310.13619.78.24.2

Energy services

281.441292.229304.57219.78.24.2

Electricity

277.456288.019300.48819.58.34.3

Utility (piped) gas service

313.297326.976333.75725.26.52.1

Household furnishings and operations

150.596-152.8822.01.5-

Apparel

109.745-104.602-0.2-4.7-

Transportation

238.625-244.79116.82.6-

Private transportation

242.145-250.35717.83.4-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

114.147-----

New vehicles(1)

170.835-----

Used cars and trucks(1)

307.585-340.91540.410.8-

Motor fuel

302.602311.584318.81537.15.42.3

Gasoline (all types)

310.663319.853327.28437.25.42.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

321.444331.103338.74437.75.42.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

259.363267.248273.19525.75.32.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

295.261303.430310.69636.65.22.4

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

442.557-442.557-3.60.0-

Medical care

434.559-434.814-0.1-

Recreation(3)

137.828-140.8374.52.2-

Education and communication(3)

151.069-151.4891.50.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,841.568-1,850.5642.30.5-

Other goods and services

521.144-----

Commodity and service group

All items

296.559-298.8204.60.8-

Commodities

218.733-221.3166.21.2-

Commodities less food & beverages

163.467-167.10211.52.2-

Nondurables less food & beverages

204.463-209.04112.32.2-

Durables

118.028-120.62910.42.2-

Services

364.520-366.5223.80.5-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

289.079-291.4285.00.8-

All items less shelter

270.469-273.5025.21.1-

Commodities less food

168.450-172.01411.12.1-

Nondurables

259.785-262.1415.10.9-

Nondurables less food

210.617-214.94611.62.1-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

371.856-375.6914.01.0-

Services less medical care services

356.262-358.4824.20.6-

Energy

293.466303.295312.82428.86.63.1

All items less energy

298.611-299.8443.30.4-

All items less food and energy

298.203-299.5843.80.5-

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
(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.

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021