Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in September, 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 gasoline 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 advanced 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.7 percent. Energy prices advanced 4.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Mar 2023	3.7	4.3
Apr 2023	3.8	4.5
May 2023	3.2	4.3
Jun 2023	2.5	4.0
Jul 2023	2.7	3.4
Aug 2023	3.3	3.5
Sep 2023	3.2	3.2

Food prices declined 0.3 percent for the month of September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.8 percent, led by lower prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-4.0 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.7 percent. Prices for food at home rose 0.3 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 6.2 percent.

The energy index increased 5.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (10.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 5.4 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 4.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (13.7 percent). Prices paid for gasoline increased 5.0 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 18.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in September. Higher prices for shelter (0.6 percent) and education and communication (0.6 percent) were offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.9 percent), apparel (-1.2 percent), and recreation (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (9.2 percent) and shelter (5.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-7.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent).

The October 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on November 14, 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	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Sep. 2022	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		321.931	324.050	324.984	3.2	0.9	0.3
All items (1967=100)		951.126	957.388	960.148	-	-	-
Food and beverages		330.276	330.114	329.313	2.7	-0.3	-0.2
Food		332.354	331.989	330.984	2.7	-0.4	-0.3
Food at home		318.975	318.410	315.910	0.3	-1.0	-0.8
Cereals and bakery products		350.051	350.457	346.875	2.9	-0.9	-1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		340.830	345.117	341.089	0.8	0.1	-1.2
Dairy and related products		300.894	299.145	299.806	-0.2	-0.4	0.2
Fruits and vegetables		418.910	413.075	410.576	-2.6	-2.0	-0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		304.262	310.546	298.268	-1.9	-2.0	-4.0
Other food at home		259.738	255.943	257.388	2.0	-0.9	0.6
Food away from home		341.524	341.505	343.020	6.2	0.4	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		280.398	282.904	284.829	3.3	1.6	0.7
Housing		367.102	368.480	369.622	4.5	0.7	0.3
Shelter		419.001	420.623	423.036	5.1	1.0	0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)		444.931	447.648	449.268	5.7	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		433.348	434.944	438.614	4.9	1.2	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		433.323	434.919	438.589	4.9	1.2	0.8
Fuels and utilities		466.723	472.708	468.205	4.1	0.3	-1.0
Household energy		420.614	427.795	422.365	3.5	0.4	-1.3
Energy services(2)		418.879	426.093	420.641	3.5	0.4	-1.3
Electricity(2)		487.574	487.706	487.759	13.7	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		322.618	346.998	328.224	-18.8	1.7	-5.4
Household furnishings and operations		132.065	131.281	129.811	-1.2	-1.7	-1.1
Apparel		116.984	124.088	122.542	-1.6	4.8	-1.2
Transportation		264.953	267.894	272.567	-0.1	2.9	1.7
Private transportation		267.483	270.235	275.207	0.0	2.9	1.8
New and used motor vehicles(4)		114.278	113.742	111.269	-4.8	-2.6	-2.2
New vehicles(1)		196.489	195.700	195.889	0.6	-0.3	0.1
Used cars and trucks(1)		385.592	380.049	357.766	-7.7	-7.2	-5.9
Motor fuel		375.619	397.083	436.617	5.0	16.2	10.0
Gasoline (all types)		366.090	386.936	425.469	5.0	16.2	10.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		366.863	387.990	426.939	5.0	16.4	10.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		350.244	369.541	406.137	4.8	16.0	9.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		350.513	369.611	405.244	4.8	15.6	9.6
Medical care		557.087	556.071	546.371	-0.2	-1.9	-1.7
Recreation(6)		124.435	125.820	125.424	4.5	0.8	-0.3
Education and communication(6)		157.089	158.154	159.041	2.5	1.2	0.6
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,241.252	2,269.579	2,296.557	4.7	2.5	1.2
Other goods and services		512.741	529.462	529.771	9.2	3.3	0.1
Commodity and service group
All items		321.931	324.050	324.984	3.2	0.9	0.3
Commodities		218.535	220.389	221.330	0.7	1.3	0.4
Commodities less food & beverages		162.044	164.318	165.690	-1.1	2.3	0.8
Nondurables less food & beverages		225.104	232.980	239.225	1.7	6.3	2.7
Durables		103.368	102.864	101.943	-2.8	-1.4	-0.9
Services		413.327	415.619	416.501	4.4	0.8	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		311.545	313.783	315.140	3.4	1.2	0.4
All items less shelter		278.963	281.314	281.581	1.9	0.9	0.1
Commodities less food		167.297	169.614	171.020	-0.9	2.2	0.8
Nondurables		279.177	283.339	286.318	2.5	2.6	1.1
Nondurables less food		231.442	239.099	245.165	1.8	5.9	2.5
Services less rent of shelter(3)		416.357	419.790	418.168	3.4	0.4	-0.4
Services less medical care services		399.457	401.922	403.123	4.8	0.9	0.3
Energy		395.638	411.315	432.517	4.5	9.3	5.2
All items less energy		319.644	321.018	320.825	3.1	0.4	-0.1
All items less food and energy		317.529	319.163	319.091	3.2	0.5	0.0
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.