Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged for the two months ending in January 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that higher prices for shelter, education and communication, and apparel were offset by lower prices for gasoline and new and used motor vehicles. (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 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.8 percent. Energy prices fell 10.4 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 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, January 2021–January 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Sep 2023	4.9	5.5
Nov 2023	4.3	5.1
Jan 2024	2.9	4.4

Food prices advanced 0.3 percent for the two months ending in January. (See table 1.)Prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent, led by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-1.7 percent) and other food at home (-1.4 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 1.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 0.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (4.2 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 5.9 percent.

The energy index fell 6.3 percent for the two months ending in January. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-9.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 8.5 percent, while prices for electricity advanced 0.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 10.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for natural gas service (-62.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 5.6 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 2.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (4.6 percent), education and communication (1.9 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-2.8 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (11.1 percent) and shelter (8.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in household furnishings and operations (-6.0 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-4.4 percent).

The March 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2024.

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	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Jan. 2023	Nov. 2023	Dec. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		131.372	-	131.358	2.9	0.0	-
Food and beverages		133.674	-	134.015	2.7	0.3	-
Food		134.840	-	135.262	2.8	0.3	-
Food at home		132.251	132.091	131.852	0.9	-0.3	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products		151.129	152.594	153.524	4.2	1.6	0.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		135.113	134.543	132.855	0.6	-1.7	-1.3
Dairy and related products		113.696	116.269	112.795	-0.4	-0.8	-3.0
Fruits and vegetables		130.429	128.859	132.556	-1.2	1.6	2.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		130.700	130.174	130.411	1.0	-0.2	0.2
Other food at home		128.256	127.698	126.411	0.8	-1.4	-1.0
Food away from home		139.087	-	140.638	5.9	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages		111.905	-	110.907	-0.5	-0.9	-
Housing		138.210	-	138.264	3.5	0.0	-
Shelter		137.324	137.018	137.790	8.1	0.3	0.6
Rent of primary residence		142.282	142.927	142.915	7.4	0.4	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		136.143	136.646	137.195	8.5	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		136.143	136.646	137.195	8.5	0.8	0.4
Fuels and utilities		162.493	-	161.457	-15.9	-0.6	-
Household energy		175.670	172.839	173.440	-23.5	-1.3	0.3
Energy services		177.213	174.253	174.859	-23.8	-1.3	0.3
Electricity		181.889	182.556	183.343	5.6	0.8	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service		163.015	149.236	149.174	-62.4	-8.5	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		119.480	-	117.771	-6.0	-1.4	-
Apparel		107.169	-	112.057	-1.8	4.6	-
Transportation		135.566	-	132.350	1.9	-2.4	-
Private transportation		138.208	-	133.887	1.3	-3.1	-
New and used motor vehicles		116.682	-	113.428	-4.4	-2.8	-
New vehicles		114.683	-	114.021	-2.2	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks		135.561	-	130.458	-3.5	-3.8	-
Motor fuel		162.681	151.481	147.254	1.9	-9.5	-2.8
Gasoline (all types)		162.434	151.258	147.146	2.1	-9.4	-2.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		163.085	151.723	147.450	2.0	-9.6	-2.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		162.705	151.738	147.899	2.1	-9.1	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		159.146	148.736	145.207	2.2	-8.8	-2.4
Medical care		122.223	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		112.406	-	112.709	3.1	0.3	-
Education and communication		108.350	-	110.436	-0.8	1.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		129.012	-	129.012	2.7	0.0	-
Other goods and services		134.369	-	134.621	11.1	0.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		131.372	-	131.358	2.9	0.0	-
Commodities		125.657	-	124.772	0.0	-0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		121.404	-	119.884	-1.5	-1.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		129.907	-	127.475	2.0	-1.9	-
Durables		112.778	-	112.000	-4.9	-0.7	-
Services		135.511	-	136.084	4.8	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		132.013	-	131.753	2.8	-0.2	-
All items less shelter		128.311	-	128.044	0.1	-0.2	-
Commodities less food		121.088	-	119.568	-1.5	-1.3	-
Nondurables		131.864	-	130.860	2.4	-0.8	-
Nondurables less food		128.932	-	126.544	1.9	-1.9	-
Services less rent of shelter		132.663	-	133.350	0.3	0.5	-
Services less medical care services		136.331	-	136.896	5.0	0.4	-
Energy		168.209	160.090	157.673	-10.4	-6.3	-1.5
All items less energy		128.300	-	128.988	4.1	0.5	-
All items less food and energy		127.266	-	128.003	4.4	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.