Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.8 percent for the two months ending in May 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the May 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 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 7.8 percent. Energy prices fell 11.2 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, May 2020–May 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2020	0.9	2.1
Jul 2020	1.7	1.7
Sep 2020	1.7	1.4
Nov 2020	1.9	2.3
Jan 2021	2.2	2.0
Mar 2021	3.6	2.0
May 2021	5.9	4.0
Jul 2021	6.5	4.9
Sep 2021	6.8	5.2
Nov 2021	7.9	5.4
Jan 2022	8.6	6.3
Mar 2022	10.0	6.9
May 2022	9.4	6.2
Jul 2022	9.2	6.2
Sep 2022	8.4	6.0
Nov 2022	7.5	6.4
Jan 2023	7.3	6.3
Mar 2023	4.6	5.9
May 2023	3.9	5.8

Food prices rose 1.1 percent for the two months ending in May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.5 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 2.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 7.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 7.0 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 1.1 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 15.0 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home increased 9.7 percent.

The energy index decreased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in May. The decrease was influenced by lower prices for electricity (-1.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service fell 2.5 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 11.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service fell 12.8 percent, but prices for electricity rose 7.7 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (7.4 percent), household furnishings and operations (2.9 percent), and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (8.2 percent), household furnishings and operations (6.9 percent), and new vehicles (4.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-3.3 percent) and education and communication (-0.9 percent).

The July 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on August 10, 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.

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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023	May 2023	May 2022	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		127.707	-	128.768	3.9	0.8	-
Food and beverages		131.330	-	132.728	7.4	1.1	-
Food		132.397	-	133.834	7.8	1.1	-
Food at home		131.157	132.592	131.772	7.0	0.5	-0.6
Cereals and bakery products		148.991	-	150.183	15.0	0.8	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		133.893	-	132.065	1.1	-1.4	-
Dairy and related products		112.872	-	117.415	7.9	4.0	-
Fruits and vegetables		132.161	-	132.212	5.9	0.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		129.839	-	128.594	3.8	-1.0	-
Other food at home		125.987	-	128.190	9.5	1.7	-
Food away from home		134.175	-	137.118	9.7	2.2	-
Alcoholic beverages		111.548	-	112.172	-0.7	0.6	-
Housing		131.862	-	132.983	7.6	0.9	-
Shelter		129.469	129.880	130.430	8.2	0.7	0.4
Rent of primary residence		135.774	136.403	136.888	12.0	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		127.790	128.395	129.010	7.3	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		127.790	128.395	129.010	7.3	1.0	0.5
Fuels and utilities		154.944	-	153.750	2.5	-0.8	-
Household energy		167.102	161.910	164.556	2.1	-1.5	1.6
Energy services		168.219	162.902	165.753	2.1	-1.5	1.8
Electricity		172.001	169.643	169.999	7.7	-1.2	0.2
Utility (piped) gas service		156.699	142.563	152.855	-12.8	-2.5	7.2
Household furnishings and operations		123.907	-	127.556	6.9	2.9	-
Apparel		113.675	-	116.779	9.4	2.7	-
Transportation		133.651	-	134.178	-5.1	0.4	-
Private transportation		135.977	-	136.231	-5.4	0.2	-
New and used motor vehicles		120.112	-	121.310	2.1	1.0	-
New vehicles		117.270	-	118.611	4.6	1.1	-
Used cars and trucks		135.310	-	145.319	-3.3	7.4	-
Motor fuel		158.276	158.682	157.273	-18.5	-0.6	-0.9
Gasoline (all types)		158.053	158.559	157.195	-18.5	-0.5	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		158.650	159.152	157.741	-18.8	-0.6	-0.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		158.474	159.005	157.690	-17.9	-0.5	-0.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		154.982	155.503	154.326	-17.3	-0.4	-0.8
Medical care		121.082	-	121.023	4.4	0.0	-
Recreation		110.088	-	112.045	5.2	1.8	-
Education and communication		109.990	-	109.155	-0.9	-0.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		125.643	-	125.898	4.6	0.2	-
Other goods and services		121.202	-	126.305	5.7	4.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		127.707	-	128.768	3.9	0.8	-
Commodities		126.195	-	128.084	0.2	1.5	-
Commodities less food & beverages		123.427	-	125.566	-3.4	1.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		129.521	-	131.952	-6.8	1.9	-
Durables		116.975	-	118.835	0.5	1.6	-
Services		128.883	-	129.362	6.4	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		128.172	-	129.311	3.9	0.9	-
All items less shelter		126.867	-	127.982	1.7	0.9	-
Commodities less food		123.054	-	125.156	-3.4	1.7	-
Nondurables		130.463	-	132.359	0.1	1.5	-
Nondurables less food		128.548	-	130.890	-6.6	1.8	-
Services less rent of shelter		127.854	-	127.656	4.0	-0.2	-
Services less medical care services		129.338	-	129.860	6.7	0.4	-
Energy		162.230	160.545	160.646	-11.2	-1.0	0.1
All items less energy		124.805	-	126.035	6.1	1.0	-
All items less food and energy		123.597	-	124.792	5.8	1.0	-
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.