Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in July 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 2.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 4.7 percent. Energy prices fell 13.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Hawaii, July 2020–July 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jul 2020	1.3	1.4
Sep 2020	1.9	1.9
Nov 2020	1.6	1.8
Jan 2021	1.4	1.4
Mar 2021	1.8	0.9
May 2021	3.8	3.3
Jul 2021	4.6	3.8
Sep 2021	5.0	4.1
Nov 2021	5.4	3.4
Jan 2022	6.0	3.9
Mar 2022	7.5	5.3
May 2022	7.0	4.3
Jul 2022	6.8	3.9
Sep 2022	6.6	4.1
Nov 2022	5.8	3.6
Jan 2023	5.2	3.7
Mar 2023	3.3	3.0
May 2023	2.0	2.5
Jul 2023	2.1	3.3

Food prices advanced 1.1 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.9 percent, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.2 percent). Overall, prices rose in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.7 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 1.5 percent since a year ago, with prices increasing in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 9.6 percent.

The energy index fell 2.5 percent for the two months ending in July. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-3.1 percent). Prices for natural gas services fell 5.9 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 1.9 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 13.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 13.9 percent, and prices for electricity fell 11.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (2.1 percent) and education and communication (0.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-6.1 percent) and medical care (-2.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (4.6 percent) and shelter (3.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-5.3 percent).

The September 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on October 12, 2023.

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	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Jul. 2022	May 2023	Jun. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		323.708	-	325.836	2.1	0.7	-
All items (1967=100)		891.159	-	897.018	-	-	-
Food and beverages		351.245	-	355.137	4.1	1.1	-
Food		355.164	-	359.170	4.7	1.1	-
Food at home		342.951	340.866	346.032	1.5	0.9	1.5
Cereals and bakery products		400.967	407.133	408.675	5.1	1.9	0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		316.330	317.759	329.617	-1.2	4.2	3.7
Dairy and related products		286.407	274.504	280.674	-1.2	-2.0	2.2
Fruits and vegetables		399.659	392.305	402.084	3.0	0.6	2.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		436.351	421.526	423.001	-4.1	-3.1	0.3
Other food at home		338.359	339.414	339.982	4.5	0.5	0.2
Food away from home		362.434	-	367.669	9.6	1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		285.158	-	287.022	-6.4	0.7	-
Housing		341.940	-	347.169	2.3	1.5	-
Shelter		368.475	370.758	376.150	3.5	2.1	1.5
Rent of primary residence(2)		365.120	367.689	371.117	2.1	1.6	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		380.888	383.215	389.648	5.4	2.3	1.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		380.888	383.215	389.648	5.4	2.3	1.7
Fuels and utilities		450.475	-	441.150	-7.8	-2.1	-
Household energy		380.432	374.916	369.123	-11.3	-3.0	-1.5
Energy services		373.955	368.228	361.549	-11.6	-3.3	-1.8
Electricity		368.866	364.031	357.273	-11.6	-3.1	-1.9
Utility (piped) gas service		391.648	372.703	368.416	-13.9	-5.9	-1.2
Household furnishings and operations		166.021	-	167.240	5.4	0.7	-
Apparel		130.574	-	122.648	9.9	-6.1	-
Transportation		273.573	-	271.463	-4.4	-0.8	-
Private transportation		282.243	-	281.909	-4.1	-0.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		130.139	-	129.841	0.0	-0.2	-
New vehicles(1)		195.287	-	194.952	4.5	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		343.289	-	346.788	-5.3	1.0	-
Motor fuel		372.033	368.752	364.987	-16.1	-1.9	-1.0
Gasoline (all types)		381.895	378.463	374.525	-16.1	-1.9	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		396.205	392.832	388.709	-16.4	-1.9	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		317.209	314.108	310.724	-15.8	-2.0	-1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		359.081	355.191	351.634	-15.1	-2.1	-1.0
Medical care		510.184	-	498.393	4.6	-2.3	-
Recreation(3)		149.235	-	150.305	5.6	0.7	-
Education and communication(3)		156.799	-	157.992	2.3	0.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,922.709	-	1,989.166	3.4	3.5	-
Other goods and services		611.101	-	615.426	8.8	0.7	-
Commodity and service group
All items		323.708	-	325.836	2.1	0.7	-
Commodities		253.028	-	252.485	1.7	-0.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		193.016	-	190.569	-0.2	-1.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		249.714	-	244.747	-2.0	-2.0	-
Durables		134.316	-	133.764	1.8	-0.4	-
Services		386.579	-	390.789	2.3	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		313.734	-	316.607	1.9	0.9	-
All items less shelter		306.434	-	305.318	1.1	-0.4	-
Commodities less food		196.979	-	194.604	-0.5	-1.2	-
Nondurables		302.544	-	302.097	1.7	-0.1	-
Nondurables less food		252.106	-	247.475	-2.3	-1.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		409.344	-	407.079	0.2	-0.6	-
Services less medical care services		376.437	-	381.415	2.3	1.3	-
Energy		374.334	369.895	365.085	-13.9	-2.5	-1.3
All items less energy		322.641	-	325.564	3.5	0.9	-
All items less food and energy		318.796	-	321.558	3.3	0.9	-
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.