Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.3 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February decrease was influenced by lower prices for natural gas service. (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 advanced 5.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 7.8 percent. Energy prices rose 6.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, February 2020–February 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2020	3.4	3.1
Mar 2020	1.9	2.1
Apr 2020	0.7	1.7
May 2020	0.9	1.8
Jun 2020	1.4	1.8
Jul 2020	1.9	2.3
Aug 2020	2.0	2.0
Sep 2020	1.2	1.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.2
Nov 2020	1.0	1.5
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	0.9	0.6
Feb 2021	1.0	0.3
Mar 2021	2.2	0.9
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, February 2020–February 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2020	3.4	3.1
Mar 2020	1.9	2.1
Apr 2020	0.7	1.7
May 2020	0.9	1.8
Jun 2020	1.4	1.8
Jul 2020	1.9	2.3
Aug 2020	2.0	2.0
Sep 2020	1.2	1.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.2
Nov 2020	1.0	1.5
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	0.9	0.6
Feb 2021	1.0	0.3
Mar 2021	2.2	0.9
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5

Food prices increased 0.7 percent for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.7 percent, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 7.8 percent. Prices for food at home rose 8.7 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 2.6 percent for fruits and vegetables to 15.5 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home advanced 6.7 percent.

The energy index fell 9.8 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-51.9 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 4.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 6.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (35.3 percent). Prices for gasoline fell 0.9 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in February. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (2.2 percent) and apparel (2.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.1 percent) and medical care (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.2 percent) and medical care (3.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-11.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.8 percent).

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on April 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Feb. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		312.601	318.591	317.571	5.1	1.6	-0.3
All items (1967=100)		923.563	941.261	938.247	-	-	-
Food and beverages		321.802	324.189	326.720	7.6	1.5	0.8
Food		323.511	326.080	328.229	7.8	1.5	0.7
Food at home		311.773	314.820	317.053	8.7	1.7	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		343.326	348.891	349.789	15.5	1.9	0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		334.607	339.692	339.260	4.2	1.4	-0.1
Dairy and related products		304.564	305.558	307.305	11.4	0.9	0.6
Fruits and vegetables		415.162	414.795	415.390	2.6	0.1	0.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		296.778	298.893	301.326	6.6	1.5	0.8
Other food at home		246.420	249.856	255.402	14.7	3.6	2.2
Food away from home		330.302	331.980	333.904	6.7	1.1	0.6
Alcoholic beverages		277.343	277.175	284.531	3.3	2.6	2.7
Housing		357.653	367.057	361.568	5.3	1.1	-1.5
Shelter		407.918	409.720	410.139	5.2	0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)		431.608	433.967	434.905	5.1	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		423.324	424.353	424.743	5.2	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		423.299	424.329	424.718	5.2	0.3	0.1
Fuels and utilities		455.633	580.765	477.230	13.9	4.7	-17.8
Household energy		-	-	-	-	-	-
Energy services(2)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Electricity(2)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		374.276	839.299	403.709	35.3	7.9	-51.9
Household furnishings and operations		129.346	130.530	133.353	-0.8	3.1	2.2
Apparel		115.256	118.080	120.473	2.2	4.5	2.0
Transportation		252.037	255.814	259.474	3.6	3.0	1.4
Private transportation		253.882	256.904	260.013	2.3	2.4	1.2
New and used motor vehicles(4)		109.260	111.654	111.731	3.4	2.3	0.1
New vehicles(1)		193.987	194.759	195.514	1.4	0.8	0.4
Used cars and trucks(1)		360.256	354.971	350.910	-11.9	-2.6	-1.1
Motor fuel		345.571	341.285	357.624	-0.5	3.5	4.8
Gasoline (all types)		336.196	332.026	348.035	-0.9	3.5	4.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		336.482	332.348	348.609	-1.0	3.6	4.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		322.786	318.398	333.499	-0.6	3.3	4.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		323.438	319.306	333.803	-0.5	3.2	4.5
Medical care		548.472	558.533	556.341	3.6	1.4	-0.4
Recreation(6)		120.139	120.785	121.814	5.4	1.4	0.9
Education and communication(6)		155.475	155.327	155.873	2.5	0.3	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,183.845	2,178.794	2,179.863	4.8	-0.2	0.0
Other goods and services		484.586	502.040	500.949	6.3	3.4	-0.2
Commodity and service group
All items		312.601	318.591	317.571	5.1	1.6	-0.3
Commodities		212.695	213.853	215.603	2.9	1.4	0.8
Commodities less food & beverages		157.607	158.273	159.604	-0.5	1.3	0.8
Nondurables less food & beverages		216.237	218.373	222.267	1.9	2.8	1.8
Durables		101.657	101.579	101.582	-2.9	-0.1	0.0
Services		400.839	411.538	407.703	6.2	1.7	-0.9
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		302.215	308.024	307.054	5.2	1.6	-0.3
All items less shelter		270.398	278.306	276.631	5.1	2.3	-0.6
Commodities less food		162.816	163.474	164.958	-0.4	1.3	0.9
Nondurables		270.350	272.642	275.948	5.2	2.1	1.2
Nondurables less food		222.808	224.834	228.989	2.0	2.8	1.8
Services less rent of shelter(3)		401.295	426.829	415.924	8.0	3.6	-2.6
Services less medical care services		386.537	397.345	393.426	6.5	1.8	-1.0
Energy		374.597	432.933	390.509	6.4	4.2	-9.8
All items less energy		310.916	314.015	315.304	5.0	1.4	0.4
All items less food and energy		308.824	312.000	313.159	4.5	1.4	0.4
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.