Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in February 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and food. (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 8.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 10.1 percent. Energy prices decreased 2.2 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 9.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 2.7 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 4.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 10.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 8.6 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 3.9 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 14.6 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home advanced 12.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 1.0 percent for the two months ending in February. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.0 percent). Prices for electricity declined 0.2 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 7.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 2.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity declined 2.1 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 14.3 percent during the past year).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (5.8 percent), recreation (3.0 percent), and shelter (2.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent), and medical care (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 9.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (16.1 percent), other goods and services (8.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (8.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-13.1 percent) and education and communication (-1.6 percent).

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on May 10, 2023.

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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=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		175.019	-	177.118	8.5	1.2	-
Food and beverages		180.605	-	185.120	9.8	2.5	-
Food		183.113	-	188.059	10.1	2.7	-
Food at home		179.806	181.502	183.177	8.6	1.9	0.9
Cereals and bakery products		229.000	-	236.654	14.6	3.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		221.794	-	221.344	3.9	-0.2	-
Dairy and related products		151.986	-	147.937	7.0	-2.7	-
Fruits and vegetables		153.407	-	155.464	6.9	1.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		130.530	-	140.726	6.6	7.8	-
Other food at home		178.558	-	182.781	12.2	2.4	-
Food away from home		190.016	-	197.658	12.3	4.0	-
Alcoholic beverages		153.531	-	153.131	6.1	-0.3	-
Housing		195.435	-	198.429	14.1	1.5	-
Shelter		210.945	212.663	215.239	16.1	2.0	1.2
Rent of primary residence		225.420	227.174	229.687	19.5	1.9	1.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		209.839	211.639	213.012	15.3	1.5	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		209.839	211.639	213.012	15.3	1.5	0.6
Fuels and utilities		179.001	-	179.915	3.6	0.5	-
Household energy		172.635	172.193	173.373	-0.3	0.4	0.7
Energy services		171.974	171.342	172.683	-0.3	0.4	0.8
Electricity		178.936	178.190	178.530	-2.1	-0.2	0.2
Utility (piped) gas service		137.799	137.994	147.484	14.3	7.0	6.9
Household furnishings and operations		118.502	-	116.547	8.1	-1.6	-
Apparel		142.771	-	150.993	3.1	5.8	-
Transportation		152.453	-	150.637	-0.5	-1.2	-
Private transportation		156.819	-	155.042	-0.9	-1.1	-
New and used motor vehicles		111.740	-	110.100	-	-1.5	-
New vehicles		111.698	-	112.629	-	0.8	-
Used cars and trucks		115.509	-	111.367	-13.1	-3.6	-
Motor fuel		310.672	295.702	304.123	-3.8	-2.1	2.8
Gasoline (all types)		307.566	292.689	301.355	-4.8	-2.0	3.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		309.031	294.025	303.254	-4.9	-1.9	3.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		322.648	305.342	313.107	-4.7	-3.0	2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		306.268	291.832	298.484	-4.1	-2.5	2.3
Medical care		216.717	-	214.343	-	-1.1	-
Recreation		126.186	-	129.937	1.3	3.0	-
Education and communication		118.733	-	117.865	-1.6	-0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		221.088	-	223.710	-	1.2	-
Other goods and services		170.235	-	173.711	8.4	2.0	-
Commodity and service group
All items		175.019	-	177.118	8.5	1.2	-
Commodities		145.681	-	146.706	2.9	0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		128.266	-	127.715	-0.8	-0.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		172.148	-	174.680	1.4	1.5	-
Durables		91.442	-	89.280	-3.1	-2.4	-
Services		195.554	-	198.468	11.9	1.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		172.799	-	175.184	8.8	1.4	-
All items less shelter		157.062	-	158.070	3.9	0.6	-
Commodities less food		129.315	-	128.768	-0.6	-0.4	-
Nondurables		177.293	-	180.915	6.0	2.0	-
Nondurables less food		170.795	-	173.075	1.7	1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter		175.239	-	176.177	5.4	0.5	-
Services less medical care services		193.518	-	197.065	12.6	1.8	-
Energy		237.438	230.904	235.160	-2.2	-1.0	1.8
All items less energy		171.361	-	173.642	9.3	1.3	-
All items less food and energy		169.466	-	171.339	9.1	1.1	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.