Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.0 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The April increase was influenced by higher prices for new and used motor vehicles and shelter. (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 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 3.4 percent. Energy prices jumped 23.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.0 percent, influenced by higher prices for fruits and vegetables. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.4 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.9 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.1 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (3.7 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 1.4 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 1.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 23.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (37.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 8.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 4.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.0 percent in April. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (4.5 percent) and shelter (0.5 percent) were slightly offset by lower prices for motor vehicle insurance (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (9.4 percent) and shelter (1.7 percent).

Table A. West region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	2.5	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9	0.2	1.4
February	0.6	3.0	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1	0.5	1.6
March	0.3	3.1	0.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5	0.7	2.4
April	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.2	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3	1.0	3.9
May	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8
June	0.0	2.5	0.2	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2
July	0.1	2.5	0.1	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7
August	0.2	2.7	0.2	3.6	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9
September	0.5	2.9	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6
October	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2
November	0.0	3.1	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4
December	0.1	3.1	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5

The May 2021 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on June 10, 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-
	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	Apr. 2020	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	278.702	280.625	283.507	3.9	1.7	1.0
All items (December 1977=100)	450.506	453.614	458.273
Food and beverages	282.161	282.539	284.355	3.2	0.8	0.6
Food	282.643	282.984	284.914	3.4	0.8	0.7
Food at home	263.956	264.033	266.730	2.1	1.1	1.0
Cereals and bakery products	265.829	270.165	269.249	-0.7	1.3	-0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	283.155	285.621	288.847	4.6	2.0	1.1
Dairy and related products	246.346	243.666	247.295	2.4	0.4	1.5
Fruits and vegetables	345.409	342.914	349.697	2.2	1.2	2.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	190.533	187.960	191.764	2.2	0.6	2.0
Other food at home	221.463	221.830	222.444	1.3	0.4	0.3
Food away from home	306.955	307.658	308.522	4.9	0.5	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	272.459	273.293	273.669	1.2	0.4	0.1
Housing	310.182	311.022	312.588	2.2	0.8	0.5
Shelter	357.670	358.434	360.206	1.7	0.7	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)	382.538	383.015	383.676	1.5	0.3	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	377.607	378.007	378.360	1.6	0.2	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	377.574	377.971	378.321	1.5	0.2	0.1
Fuels and utilities	325.202	327.513	329.032	6.3	1.2	0.5
Household energy	274.344	277.188	279.181	7.8	1.8	0.7
Energy services(1)	276.192	279.092	281.445	7.7	1.9	0.8
Electricity(1)	309.398	312.934	317.385	8.7	2.6	1.4
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	214.093	215.606	212.777	4.4	-0.6	-1.3
Household furnishings and operations	138.389	138.858	139.702	2.8	0.9	0.6
Apparel	113.304	114.734	116.236	3.3	2.6	1.3
Transportation	216.515	223.648	232.073	13.6	7.2	3.8
Private transportation	215.294	222.390	229.708	14.0	6.7	3.3
New and used motor vehicles(3)	104.034	104.453	109.175	9.4	4.9	4.5
New vehicles	151.487	150.926	151.248	1.4	-0.2	0.2
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	105.229	104.850	105.067	1.4	-0.2	0.2
New cars(4)	150.286	148.892	148.679	0.6	-1.1	-0.1
Used cars and trucks	145.121	148.563	162.090	21.1	11.7	9.1
Motor fuel	244.582	275.493	285.588	36.9	16.8	3.7
Gasoline (all types)	243.806	274.640	284.730	37.4	16.8	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	240.237	271.134	281.215	38.3	17.1	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	235.437	262.995	272.745	33.0	15.8	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	242.779	271.228	280.653	33.9	15.6	3.5
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	833.674	837.972	837.169	5.6	0.4	-0.1
Medical Care	539.796	541.390	544.218	1.6	0.8	0.5
Medical care commodities	409.235	410.237	420.757	-1.6	2.8	2.6
Medical care services	580.214	581.993	582.389	2.4	0.4	0.1
Professional services	374.088	375.957	375.933	3.5	0.5	0.0
Recreation(3)	115.448	116.717	117.684	1.8	1.9	0.8
Education and communication(3)	141.118	139.985	140.214	1.1	-0.6	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,506.289	1,506.734	1,507.049	0.7	0.1	0.0
Other goods and services	473.042	472.339	473.215	2.9	0.0	0.2
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	278.702	280.625	283.507	3.9	1.7	1.0
Commodities	192.894	195.466	198.575	6.4	2.9	1.6
Commodities less food & beverages	149.705	152.981	156.428	8.7	4.5	2.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	192.047	199.814	203.642	10.6	6.0	1.9
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	247.400	259.550	264.997	13.0	7.1	2.1
Durables	110.063	110.303	113.199	6.7	2.8	2.6
Services	358.426	359.550	362.045	2.4	1.0	0.7
Rent of shelter(2)	380.966	381.786	383.683	1.7	0.7	0.5
Transportation services	307.975	310.120	322.115	6.4	4.6	3.9
Other services	366.539	368.095	369.206	1.4	0.7	0.3
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	266.806	268.736	271.611	4.1	1.8	1.1
All items less food	278.202	280.385	283.425	4.0	1.9	1.1
All items less shelter	247.717	250.091	253.404	5.1	2.3	1.3
Commodities less food	154.189	157.422	160.809	8.3	4.3	2.2
Nondurables	237.069	241.273	244.141	6.3	3.0	1.2
Nondurables less food	197.997	205.335	208.950	9.8	5.5	1.8
Nondurables less food and apparel	249.717	260.654	265.557	11.6	6.3	1.9
Services less rent of shelter(2)	369.885	371.518	375.052	3.4	1.4	1.0
Services less medical care services	342.976	344.054	346.683	2.4	1.1	0.8
Energy	261.331	280.792	287.601	23.2	10.1	2.4
All items less energy	282.229	282.978	285.618	2.8	1.2	0.9
All items less food and energy	282.949	283.772	286.547	2.7	1.3	1.0
Commodities less food and energy commodities	143.952	144.411	147.135	4.1	2.2	1.9
Energy commodities	249.676	280.696	290.608	36.5	16.4	3.5
Services less energy services	364.566	365.594	368.108	2.2	1.0	0.7
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.