Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.4 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The November decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 3.0 percent. Energy prices decreased 0.4 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.)

  

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Nov 2023	3.3	3.7

Food prices decreased 0.3 percent for the month of November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home fell 0.7 percent, led by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-1.5 percent) and dairy and related products (-1.2 percent). Overall, prices fell for all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.7 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for other food at home (4.2 percent) and cereals and bakery products (3.2 percent). Overall, prices rose in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 5.5 percent.

The energy index decreased 5.9 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-9.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 0.8 percent, and prices for electricity declined 0.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 0.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 10.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 8.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in November. Higher prices for medical care (0.6 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were offset by lower prices for apparel (-3.2 percent) and recreation (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.5 percent) and medical care (3.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-3.9 percent) and education and communication (-1.0 percent).

The December 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on January 11, 2024.

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	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023	Nov. 2023	Nov. 2022	Sep. 2023	Oct. 2023
Expenditure category
All Items		327.491	327.708	326.299	3.3	-0.4	-0.4
All items (December 1977=100)		529.372	529.722	527.444	-	-	-
Food and beverages		335.380	336.491	335.363	3.0	0.0	-0.3
Food		337.595	338.775	337.657	3.0	0.0	-0.3
Food at home		318.187	319.135	316.867	1.7	-0.4	-0.7
Cereals and bakery products		331.317	335.184	332.976	3.2	0.5	-0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		346.597	348.047	342.927	1.1	-1.1	-1.5
Dairy and related products		281.581	283.859	280.532	-2.6	-0.4	-1.2
Fruits and vegetables		395.854	397.123	395.785	-0.9	0.0	-0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		223.460	225.054	224.183	3.0	0.3	-0.4
Other food at home		276.840	275.318	274.282	4.2	-0.9	-0.4
Food away from home		363.488	365.100	366.415	5.5	0.8	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		301.188	301.343	300.099	1.7	-0.4	-0.4
Housing		363.160	364.145	364.859	5.4	0.5	0.2
Shelter		416.666	417.624	419.200	5.5	0.6	0.4
Rent of primary residence(1)		444.340	446.285	448.966	6.4	1.0	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		438.361	440.068	442.812	5.7	1.0	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		438.153	439.852	442.599	5.7	1.0	0.6
Fuels and utilities		410.191	412.985	411.251	9.0	0.3	-0.4
Household energy		360.851	364.448	361.707	10.0	0.2	-0.8
Energy services(1)		363.648	367.234	364.567	10.5	0.3	-0.7
Electricity(1)		395.835	400.654	397.880	10.9	0.5	-0.7
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		309.449	310.218	307.628	8.8	-0.6	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations		158.270	158.655	157.691	1.8	-0.4	-0.6
Apparel		126.985	127.133	123.079	-0.4	-3.1	-3.2
Transportation		283.269	281.600	275.724	-1.0	-2.7	-2.1
Private transportation		282.719	280.872	274.738	-0.6	-2.8	-2.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		124.950	124.069	123.871	-1.8	-0.9	-0.2
New vehicles		177.585	177.110	176.246	0.8	-0.8	-0.5
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		176.575	176.255	175.617	0.8	-0.5	-0.4
Used cars and trucks		180.132	177.941	178.979	-3.9	-0.6	0.6
Motor fuel		409.534	402.155	363.616	-7.4	-11.2	-9.6
Gasoline (all types)		407.138	399.797	360.984	-7.3	-11.3	-9.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		403.614	395.928	356.870	-7.6	-11.6	-9.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		387.187	381.431	345.099	-6.8	-10.9	-9.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		395.635	390.016	354.576	-6.3	-10.4	-9.1
Medical Care		590.018	590.688	594.011	3.6	0.7	0.6
Medical care commodities		458.944	458.240	460.946	5.2	0.4	0.6
Medical care services		630.633	631.709	635.226	3.2	0.7	0.6
Professional services		409.466	410.627	414.332	4.3	1.2	0.9
Recreation(3)		131.381	131.154	129.894	3.8	-1.1	-1.0
Education and communication(3)		143.619	143.240	142.182	-1.0	-1.0	-0.7
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,657.905	1,648.649	1,648.584	1.3	-0.6	0.0
Other goods and services		546.692	548.103	549.509	7.1	0.5	0.3
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		327.491	327.708	326.299	3.3	-0.4	-0.4
Commodities		230.935	230.383	226.762	-0.1	-1.8	-1.6
Commodities less food & beverages		180.227	179.212	175.125	-2.1	-2.8	-2.3
Nondurables less food & beverages		245.570	244.012	234.318	-1.6	-4.6	-4.0
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		328.689	325.938	312.291	-1.9	-5.0	-4.2
Durables		125.350	124.730	123.923	-2.2	-1.1	-0.6
Services		416.435	417.486	418.580	5.4	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)		444.297	445.315	447.013	5.5	0.6	0.4
Transportation services		381.378	383.000	384.817	5.0	0.9	0.5
Other services		409.126	408.573	407.481	3.9	-0.4	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		315.364	315.562	313.959	3.3	-0.4	-0.5
All items less food		325.998	326.077	324.626	3.3	-0.4	-0.4
All items less shelter		292.414	292.326	289.673	2.0	-0.9	-0.9
Commodities less food		184.879	183.877	179.800	-1.9	-2.7	-2.2
Nondurables		291.197	290.857	285.001	1.0	-2.1	-2.0
Nondurables less food		250.263	248.790	239.499	-1.4	-4.3	-3.7
Nondurables less food and apparel		325.679	323.193	310.682	-1.6	-4.6	-3.9
Services less rent of shelter(2)		427.705	428.928	429.311	5.3	0.4	0.1
Services less medical care services		401.383	402.431	403.360	5.6	0.5	0.2
Energy		395.266	392.724	369.686	-0.4	-6.5	-5.9
All items less energy		325.916	326.303	326.202	3.6	0.1	0.0
All items less food and energy		324.791	325.056	325.113	3.7	0.1	0.0
Commodities less food and energy commodities		162.356	161.862	160.543	-0.5	-1.1	-0.8
Energy commodities		416.303	408.985	370.205	-7.4	-11.1	-9.5
Services less energy services		421.165	422.081	423.386	5.2	0.5	0.3
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.