Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent for the two months ending in July 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July 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 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 5.4 percent. Energy prices fell 9.1 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.1 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, July 2020–July 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jul 2023	3.4	5.1

Food prices advanced 0.5 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 1.0 percent, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.5 percent). Prices for food away from home declined 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 5.4 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 4.6 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 7.1 percent.

The energy index advanced 0.9 percent for the two months ending in July. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 4.4 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 0.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 9.1 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-17.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service fell 8.8 percent, but prices for electricity increased 13.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (1.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (0.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new vehicles (-2.1 percent) and apparel (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (7.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-5.3 percent) and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

The September 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on October 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 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	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Jul. 2022	May 2023	Jun. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		128.768	-	129.525	3.4	0.6	-
Food and beverages		132.728	-	133.342	5.1	0.5	-
Food		133.834	-	134.559	5.4	0.5	-
Food at home		131.772	132.436	133.048	4.6	1.0	0.5
Cereals and bakery products		150.183	151.542	149.369	5.2	-0.5	-1.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		132.065	136.203	137.990	4.7	4.5	1.3
Dairy and related products		117.415	112.370	116.936	5.9	-0.4	4.1
Fruits and vegetables		132.212	132.105	132.947	5.6	0.6	0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		128.594	130.676	129.711	1.6	0.9	-0.7
Other food at home		128.190	127.335	127.559	3.9	-0.5	0.2
Food away from home		137.118	-	136.828	7.1	-0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages		112.172	-	110.508	-2.5	-1.5	-
Housing		132.983	-	134.730	7.9	1.3	-
Shelter		130.430	131.805	132.285	7.7	1.4	0.4
Rent of primary residence		136.888	137.874	138.436	11.1	1.1	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		129.010	130.513	131.244	7.0	1.7	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		129.010	130.513	131.244	7.0	1.7	0.6
Fuels and utilities		153.750	-	155.723	7.2	1.3	-
Household energy		164.556	163.930	165.203	7.2	0.4	0.8
Energy services		165.753	165.330	166.628	7.5	0.5	0.8
Electricity		169.999	169.111	168.898	13.8	-0.6	-0.1
Utility (piped) gas service		152.855	153.816	159.622	-8.8	4.4	3.8
Household furnishings and operations		127.556	-	128.361	7.6	0.6	-
Apparel		116.779	-	115.601	4.7	-1.0	-
Transportation		134.178	-	133.784	-6.1	-0.3	-
Private transportation		136.231	-	136.708	-6.1	0.4	-
New and used motor vehicles		121.310	-	119.574	-1.6	-1.4	-
New vehicles		118.611	-	116.087	1.0	-2.1	-
Used cars and trucks		145.319	-	146.801	-5.3	1.0	-
Motor fuel		157.273	158.155	159.295	-17.4	1.3	0.7
Gasoline (all types)		157.195	158.182	159.294	-17.4	1.3	0.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		157.741	158.753	159.908	-17.6	1.4	0.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		157.690	158.739	159.788	-17.0	1.3	0.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		154.326	155.205	156.146	-16.6	1.2	0.6
Medical care		121.023	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		112.045	-	111.851	6.1	-0.2	-
Education and communication		109.155	-	109.597	-0.4	0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		125.898	-	127.458	5.1	1.2	-
Other goods and services		126.305	-	126.433	6.6	0.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		128.768	-	129.525	3.4	0.6	-
Commodities		128.084	-	127.866	-1.4	-0.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		125.566	-	124.921	-4.7	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		131.952	-	132.284	-6.8	0.3	-
Durables		118.835	-	117.306	-2.4	-1.3	-
Services		129.362	-	130.806	6.7	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		129.311	-	130.110	3.4	0.6	-
All items less shelter		127.982	-	128.157	1.2	0.1	-
Commodities less food		125.156	-	124.487	-4.7	-0.5	-
Nondurables		132.359	-	132.836	-0.9	0.4	-
Nondurables less food		130.890	-	131.127	-6.6	0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter		127.656	-	128.497	5.3	0.7	-
Services less medical care services		129.860	-	131.422	7.1	1.2	-
Energy		160.646	160.968	162.162	-9.1	0.9	0.7
All items less energy		126.035	-	126.738	5.1	0.6	-
All items less food and energy		124.792	-	125.492	5.1	0.6	-
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.