Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The October increase was influenced by higher prices for 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 3.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.5 percent. Energy prices declined 0.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Aug 2023	3.9	4.1
Sep 2023	3.9	3.9
Oct 2023	3.3	3.7

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the month of October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.3 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (1.2 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.5 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.7 percent.

The energy index declined 0.6 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 0.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 10.4 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 8.9 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in October. Higher prices for shelter (0.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-0.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.6 percent) and recreation (4.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-7.1 percent).

The November 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on December 12, 2023.

The Consumer Price Index for the West Region is published 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	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023	Oct. 2022	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023
Expenditure category
All Items		326.234	327.491	327.708	3.3	0.5	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)		527.340	529.372	529.722	-	-	-
Food and beverages		335.089	335.380	336.491	3.4	0.4	0.3
Food		337.512	337.595	338.775	3.5	0.4	0.3
Food at home		318.756	318.187	319.135	2.2	0.1	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		335.896	331.317	335.184	4.6	-0.2	1.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		344.174	346.597	348.047	1.4	1.1	0.4
Dairy and related products		284.593	281.581	283.859	0.0	-0.3	0.8
Fruits and vegetables		396.348	395.854	397.123	1.3	0.2	0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		225.210	223.460	225.054	2.0	-0.1	0.7
Other food at home		276.216	276.840	275.318	3.3	-0.3	-0.5
Food away from home		362.061	363.488	365.100	5.7	0.8	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		298.075	301.188	301.343	2.5	1.1	0.1
Housing		361.936	363.160	364.145	5.5	0.6	0.3
Shelter		414.761	416.666	417.624	5.6	0.7	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)		441.884	444.340	446.285	6.5	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		436.052	438.361	440.068	5.7	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		435.839	438.153	439.852	5.7	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities		409.439	410.191	412.985	8.7	0.9	0.7
Household energy		359.290	360.851	364.448	9.7	1.4	1.0
Energy services(1)		362.155	363.648	367.234	10.2	1.4	1.0
Electricity(1)		394.357	395.835	400.654	10.4	1.6	1.2
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		307.813	309.449	310.218	8.9	0.8	0.2
Household furnishings and operations		158.904	158.270	158.655	2.3	-0.2	0.2
Apparel		126.129	126.985	127.133	1.4	0.8	0.1
Transportation		282.174	283.269	281.600	-2.0	-0.2	-0.6
Private transportation		281.415	282.719	280.872	-1.5	-0.2	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)		128.121	124.950	124.069	-3.2	-3.2	-0.7
New vehicles		177.631	177.585	177.110	1.4	-0.3	-0.3
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		176.411	176.575	176.255	0.8	-0.1	-0.2
Used cars and trucks		191.354	180.132	177.941	-7.1	-7.0	-1.2
Motor fuel		385.366	409.534	402.155	-7.2	4.4	-1.8
Gasoline (all types)		383.575	407.138	399.797	-7.2	4.2	-1.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		379.946	403.614	395.928	-7.4	4.2	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		365.104	387.187	381.431	-6.8	4.5	-1.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		373.938	395.635	390.016	-6.4	4.3	-1.4
Medical Care		582.797	590.018	590.688	2.1	1.4	0.1
Medical care commodities		460.952	458.944	458.240	5.7	-0.6	-0.2
Medical care services		620.667	630.633	631.709	1.4	1.8	0.2
Professional services		409.657	409.466	410.627	3.2	0.2	0.3
Recreation(3)		130.827	131.381	131.154	4.6	0.2	-0.2
Education and communication(3)		143.073	143.619	143.240	0.0	0.1	-0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,644.339	1,657.905	1,648.649	1.4	0.3	-0.6
Other goods and services		546.275	546.692	548.103	7.5	0.3	0.3
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		326.234	327.491	327.708	3.3	0.5	0.1
Commodities		230.254	230.935	230.383	0.0	0.1	-0.2
Commodities less food & beverages		179.482	180.227	179.212	-2.2	-0.2	-0.6
Nondurables less food & beverages		239.979	245.570	244.012	-1.4	1.7	-0.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		319.783	328.689	325.938	-2.0	1.9	-0.8
Durables		127.089	125.350	124.730	-2.6	-1.9	-0.5
Services		414.611	416.435	417.486	5.3	0.7	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)		442.249	444.297	445.315	5.7	0.7	0.2
Transportation services		380.872	381.378	383.000	4.3	0.6	0.4
Other services		408.719	409.126	408.573	4.7	0.0	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		314.361	315.364	315.562	3.4	0.4	0.1
All items less food		324.573	325.998	326.077	3.2	0.5	0.0
All items less shelter		291.418	292.414	292.326	2.0	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food		184.076	184.879	183.877	-2.1	-0.1	-0.5
Nondurables		287.987	291.197	290.857	1.4	1.0	-0.1
Nondurables less food		244.773	250.263	248.790	-1.2	1.6	-0.6
Nondurables less food and apparel		317.308	325.679	323.193	-1.6	1.9	-0.8
Services less rent of shelter(2)		425.975	427.705	428.928	4.9	0.7	0.3
Services less medical care services		400.114	401.383	402.431	5.8	0.6	0.3
Energy		380.890	395.266	392.724	-0.8	3.1	-0.6
All items less energy		325.450	325.916	326.303	3.7	0.3	0.1
All items less food and energy		324.264	324.791	325.056	3.7	0.2	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities		163.371	162.356	161.862	-0.3	-0.9	-0.3
Energy commodities		391.970	416.303	408.985	-7.1	4.3	-1.8
Services less energy services		419.315	421.165	422.081	5.1	0.7	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.