Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.9 percent for the two months ending in September 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the September 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 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 5.3 percent. Energy prices fell 10.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Sep 2023	2.2	3.0

Food prices increased 0.7 percent for the two months ending in September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent, led by lower prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-3.0 percent). Overall, prices fell in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 5.3 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.7 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (9.7 percent) and other food at home (4.6 percent). Overall, prices rose in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 10.6 percent.

The energy index increased 4.4 percent for the two months ending in September. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (5.8 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 9.9 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 2.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 10.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for electricity (-12.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 2.5 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 9.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (2.4 percent) and shelter (1.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-3.1 percent) and education and communication (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (9.9 percent) and shelter (2.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-7.7 percent).

The November 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on December 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	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Sep. 2022	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		325.836	-	328.905	2.2	0.9	-
All items (1967=100)		897.018	-	905.467	-	-	-
Food and beverages		355.137	-	357.386	5.0	0.6	-
Food		359.170	-	361.580	5.3	0.7	-
Food at home		346.032	346.273	345.394	1.7	-0.2	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		408.675	410.923	408.203	9.7	-0.1	-0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		329.617	325.891	326.095	-1.0	-1.1	0.1
Dairy and related products		280.674	284.057	285.564	-2.0	1.7	0.5
Fruits and vegetables		402.084	405.579	404.312	0.5	0.6	-0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		423.001	409.628	410.184	-3.4	-3.0	0.1
Other food at home		339.982	343.079	341.181	4.6	0.4	-0.6
Food away from home		367.669	-	374.447	10.6	1.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		287.022	-	286.332	0.3	-0.2	-
Housing		347.169	-	351.990	1.0	1.4	-
Shelter		376.150	379.074	380.584	2.0	1.2	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		371.117	372.405	374.094	1.8	0.8	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		389.648	393.427	394.779	4.9	1.3	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		389.648	393.427	394.779	4.9	1.3	0.3
Fuels and utilities		441.150	-	458.935	-8.0	4.0	-
Household energy		369.123	377.495	390.490	-11.5	5.8	3.4
Energy services		361.549	370.135	383.314	-11.7	6.0	3.6
Electricity		357.273	365.690	377.884	-12.5	5.8	3.3
Utility (piped) gas service		368.416	378.236	404.853	2.5	9.9	7.0
Household furnishings and operations		167.240	-	166.842	4.5	-0.2	-
Apparel		122.648	-	125.786	12.9	2.6	-
Transportation		271.463	-	270.166	-1.5	-0.5	-
Private transportation		281.909	-	280.355	-2.1	-0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		129.841	-	125.769	-1.2	-3.1	-
New vehicles(1)		194.952	-	190.937	2.4	-2.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		346.788	-	321.762	-7.7	-7.2	-
Motor fuel		364.987	370.011	375.096	-9.1	2.8	1.4
Gasoline (all types)		374.525	379.780	385.154	-9.0	2.8	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		388.709	394.349	400.056	-9.0	2.9	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		310.724	314.678	319.067	-9.2	2.7	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		351.634	355.925	360.508	-8.8	2.5	1.3
Medical care		498.393	-	510.270	-	2.4	-
Recreation(3)		150.305	-	150.637	9.9	0.2	-
Education and communication(3)		157.992	-	156.478	2.3	-1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,989.166	-	2,007.393	3.0	0.9	-
Other goods and services		615.426	-	622.050	10.9	1.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		325.836	-	328.905	2.2	0.9	-
Commodities		252.485	-	252.194	2.7	-0.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		190.569	-	189.187	0.9	-0.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		244.747	-	246.975	1.8	0.9	-
Durables		133.764	-	130.236	-0.3	-2.6	-
Services		390.789	-	396.487	2.0	1.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		316.607	-	319.205	2.1	0.8	-
All items less shelter		305.318	-	307.663	2.3	0.8	-
Commodities less food		194.604	-	193.223	0.8	-0.7	-
Nondurables		302.097	-	304.343	3.8	0.7	-
Nondurables less food		247.475	-	249.559	1.7	0.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		407.079	-	414.849	1.7	1.9	-
Services less medical care services		381.415	-	386.106	2.0	1.2	-
Energy		365.085	371.842	381.060	-10.3	4.4	2.5
All items less energy		325.564	-	327.772	3.3	0.7	-
All items less food and energy		321.558	-	323.742	3.0	0.7	-
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.