Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The July increase was influenced by higher prices for energy 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 3.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 4.6 percent. Energy prices fell 6.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, West region, July 2020–July 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jul 2020	1.7	2.0
Aug 2020	1.9	1.9
Sep 2020	1.6	1.6
Oct 2020	1.2	1.6
Nov 2020	1.4	1.8
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	1.4	1.3
Feb 2021	1.6	1.2
Mar 2021	2.4	1.5
Apr 2021	3.9	2.7
May 2021	4.7	3.3
Jun 2021	5.1	4.1
Jul 2021	5.2	3.9
Aug 2021	5.0	3.8
Sep 2021	5.3	4.0
Oct 2021	6.0	4.5
Nov 2021	6.5	4.8
Dec 2021	7.1	5.5
Jan 2022	7.7	6.2
Feb 2022	8.1	6.7
Mar 2022	8.7	6.8
Apr 2022	8.3	6.4
May 2022	8.3	6.2
Jun 2022	8.8	6.2
Jul 2022	8.3	6.3
Aug 2022	8.1	6.7
Sep 2022	8.3	6.8
Oct 2022	8.1	6.4
Nov 2022	7.1	6.0
Dec 2022	6.2	5.7
Jan 2023	6.3	5.6
Feb 2023	6.0	5.3
Mar 2023	5.1	5.5
Apr 2023	4.9	5.4
May 2023	4.5	5.3
Jun 2023	3.5	4.7
Jul 2023	3.5	4.3

Food prices advanced 0.2 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.3 percent, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (1.3 percent). Prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.6 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 3.3 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 6.9 percent.

The energy index advanced 1.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (2.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 4.6 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 6.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 10.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 6.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in July. Lower prices for apparel (-1.7 percent), other goods and services (-0.8 percent), and medical care (-0.3 percent) helped offset higher prices for recreation (0.4 percent) and shelter (0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (6.7 percent) and recreation (5.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-5.8 percent).

The August 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for Atlanta is published bi-monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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, 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=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		323.525	324.448	324.865	3.5	0.4	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)		522.960	524.452	525.126	-	-	-
Food and beverages		332.292	333.399	333.882	4.5	0.5	0.1
Food		334.545	335.671	336.273	4.6	0.5	0.2
Food at home		315.105	316.652	317.450	3.3	0.7	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		330.364	335.657	333.771	7.2	1.0	-0.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		335.716	336.487	340.804	0.5	1.5	1.3
Dairy and related products		285.868	283.021	281.520	0.4	-1.5	-0.5
Fruits and vegetables		396.925	398.145	398.876	2.9	0.5	0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		221.884	224.651	223.402	3.6	0.7	-0.6
Other food at home		272.975	274.316	275.730	4.8	1.0	0.5
Food away from home		360.635	360.841	361.011	6.9	0.1	0.0
Alcoholic beverages		297.622	298.455	297.319	3.1	-0.1	-0.4
Housing		358.482	359.907	361.070	6.5	0.7	0.3
Shelter		411.217	412.895	413.469	6.7	0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence(1)		436.623	438.909	440.117	7.5	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		431.637	433.261	434.550	6.8	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		431.408	433.036	434.331	6.8	0.7	0.3
Fuels and utilities		398.406	397.944	406.011	8.4	1.9	2.0
Household energy		348.178	347.349	356.198	9.5	2.3	2.5
Energy services(1)		350.672	349.898	358.881	9.9	2.3	2.6
Electricity(1)		388.620	386.548	394.103	10.9	1.4	2.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		281.177	283.586	296.771	6.2	5.5	4.6
Household furnishings and operations		158.434	159.572	160.080	2.8	1.0	0.3
Apparel		128.297	127.492	125.295	2.9	-2.3	-1.7
Transportation		277.701	279.390	280.081	-4.1	0.9	0.2
Private transportation		274.958	277.548	278.985	-3.4	1.5	0.5
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.922	128.793	128.809	-1.8	0.7	0.0
New vehicles		177.760	177.950	177.899	2.7	0.1	0.0
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		176.661	176.932	176.927	2.2	0.2	0.0
Used cars and trucks		191.043	193.589	193.510	-5.8	1.3	0.0
Motor fuel		362.566	367.307	368.938	-16.4	1.8	0.4
Gasoline (all types)		360.728	365.896	367.687	-16.1	1.9	0.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		356.999	362.270	364.008	-16.4	2.0	0.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		343.888	348.497	350.482	-15.6	1.9	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		352.890	357.340	359.201	-14.9	1.8	0.5
Medical Care		581.914	580.121	578.175	1.7	-0.6	-0.3
Medical care commodities		452.368	455.711	457.845	5.3	1.2	0.5
Medical care services		622.051	618.739	615.583	0.9	-1.0	-0.5
Professional services		400.998	402.789	403.119	4.4	0.5	0.1
Recreation(3)		130.674	130.432	130.987	5.5	0.2	0.4
Education and communication(3)		143.462	143.390	142.905	0.9	-0.4	-0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,648.482	1,650.109	1,635.802	3.6	-0.8	-0.9
Other goods and services		537.718	538.391	533.951	5.8	-0.7	-0.8
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		323.525	324.448	324.865	3.5	0.4	0.1
Commodities		228.671	229.492	229.247	-0.5	0.3	-0.1
Commodities less food & beverages		178.399	179.066	178.618	-3.6	0.1	-0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages		236.291	237.010	236.154	-4.5	-0.1	-0.4
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		311.997	313.781	313.862	-6.1	0.6	0.0
Durables		127.428	127.985	127.795	-2.5	0.3	-0.1
Services		410.805	411.792	412.915	6.0	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)		438.448	440.243	440.871	6.8	0.6	0.1
Transportation services		377.918	378.716	380.992	3.7	0.8	0.6
Other services		405.551	405.637	405.146	5.5	-0.1	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		311.585	312.618	313.133	3.6	0.5	0.2
All items less food		321.901	322.795	323.185	3.3	0.4	0.1
All items less shelter		289.039	289.655	290.009	1.7	0.3	0.1
Commodities less food		182.993	183.672	183.204	-3.4	0.1	-0.3
Nondurables		284.656	285.567	285.321	0.5	0.2	-0.1
Nondurables less food		241.239	241.969	241.092	-4.0	-0.1	-0.4
Nondurables less food and apparel		310.192	311.889	311.860	-5.4	0.5	0.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)		421.703	421.679	423.630	4.8	0.5	0.5
Services less medical care services		395.961	397.238	398.650	6.5	0.7	0.4
Energy		362.956	365.261	370.197	-6.8	2.0	1.4
All items less energy		323.648	324.494	324.638	4.4	0.3	0.0
All items less food and energy		322.640	323.444	323.518	4.3	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food and energy commodities		163.977	164.331	163.708	0.0	-0.2	-0.4
Energy commodities		369.152	373.848	375.567	-16.2	1.7	0.5
Services less energy services		415.912	416.999	417.698	5.8	0.4	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.