Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The February increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and 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 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 2.3 percent. Energy prices advanced 0.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, West region, February 2021–February 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Dec 2023	3.6	3.7
Jan 2024	3.3	3.7
Feb 2024	3.2	3.6

Food prices were unchanged for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.1 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (1.0 percent). Prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.3 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 1.1 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 4.4 percent.

The energy index increased 1.0 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 0.8 percent, and prices for electricity increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 0.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (11.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 5.3 percent, and prices for gasoline fell 4.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in February. Higher prices for shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-2.5 percent) and recreation (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (5.5 percent) and shelter (4.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-2.2 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-0.7 percent).

The March 2024 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on April 10, 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	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Feb. 2023	Dec. 2023	Jan. 2024
Expenditure category
All Items		325.932	328.053	329.339	3.2	1.0	0.4
All items (December 1977=100)		526.851	530.280	532.359	-	-	-
Food and beverages		336.099	338.646	338.829	2.3	0.8	0.1
Food		338.478	341.068	341.219	2.3	0.8	0.0
Food at home		316.944	319.595	319.779	1.1	0.9	0.1
Cereals and bakery products		332.779	331.333	334.583	1.0	0.5	1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		344.486	343.304	344.564	1.0	0.0	0.4
Dairy and related products		283.943	283.177	282.035	-2.7	-0.7	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables		393.629	403.229	400.201	0.9	1.7	-0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		221.911	227.536	226.248	1.2	2.0	-0.6
Other food at home		274.641	277.074	278.131	2.6	1.3	0.4
Food away from home		368.744	371.193	371.290	4.4	0.7	0.0
Alcoholic beverages		299.663	301.567	302.220	2.7	0.9	0.2
Housing		365.434	368.627	370.012	4.2	1.3	0.4
Shelter		420.452	422.948	424.770	4.6	1.0	0.4
Rent of primary residence(1)		450.336	451.299	452.449	4.8	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		444.763	446.985	448.415	5.0	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		444.556	446.778	448.205	5.0	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities		410.166	424.202	426.412	6.7	4.0	0.5
Household energy		360.040	374.501	375.840	6.9	4.4	0.4
Energy services(1)		362.837	377.989	379.307	7.2	4.5	0.3
Electricity(1)		397.308	416.928	417.893	11.5	5.2	0.2
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		302.884	307.590	309.948	-5.3	2.3	0.8
Household furnishings and operations		156.869	158.462	158.131	-0.4	0.8	-0.2
Apparel		120.719	123.555	124.638	-2.2	3.2	0.9
Transportation		271.388	269.967	274.032	2.1	1.0	1.5
Private transportation		270.826	268.437	271.009	2.0	0.1	1.0
New and used motor vehicles(3)		123.366	122.166	123.013	-0.7	-0.3	0.7
New vehicles		175.712	176.123	176.172	-0.1	0.3	0.0
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		174.694	175.287	175.062	-0.6	0.2	-0.1
Used cars and trucks		179.115	172.443	172.957	-2.0	-3.4	0.3
Motor fuel		337.053	324.445	329.490	-4.2	-2.2	1.6
Gasoline (all types)		334.565	322.269	327.367	-4.0	-2.2	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		330.231	317.806	322.947	-4.3	-2.2	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		320.846	309.601	314.318	-3.4	-2.0	1.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		330.653	319.526	324.173	-3.0	-2.0	1.5
Medical Care		598.854	599.698	601.871	5.5	0.5	0.4
Medical care commodities		461.457	462.342	462.333	3.8	0.2	0.0
Medical care services		641.361	642.190	645.057	5.9	0.6	0.4
Professional services		420.718	420.967	420.783	6.1	0.0	0.0
Recreation(3)		130.609	132.189	131.600	1.7	0.8	-0.4
Education and communication(3)		142.559	143.688	144.544	0.6	1.4	0.6
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,650.569	1,655.928	1,662.215	1.9	0.7	0.4
Other goods and services		547.520	553.901	540.202	4.7	-1.3	-2.5
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		325.932	328.053	329.339	3.2	1.0	0.4
Commodities		224.793	225.376	225.653	0.0	0.4	0.1
Commodities less food & beverages		172.490	172.341	172.637	-1.4	0.1	0.2
Nondurables less food & beverages		227.825	226.246	227.669	-1.2	-0.1	0.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		302.904	298.333	300.005	-0.9	-1.0	0.6
Durables		123.523	124.230	123.833	-1.5	0.3	-0.3
Services		419.994	423.617	425.891	5.1	1.4	0.5
Rent of shelter(2)		448.326	450.979	452.940	4.6	1.0	0.4
Transportation services		385.594	391.805	402.704	9.1	4.4	2.8
Other services		409.393	412.587	411.200	3.0	0.4	-0.3
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		313.376	315.543	316.788	3.0	1.1	0.4
All items less food		324.090	326.141	327.598	3.3	1.1	0.4
All items less shelter		288.635	290.616	291.686	2.4	1.1	0.4
Commodities less food		177.180	177.073	177.380	-1.2	0.1	0.2
Nondurables		281.772	282.155	282.997	0.7	0.4	0.3
Nondurables less food		233.298	231.891	233.284	-1.0	0.0	0.6
Nondurables less food and apparel		302.113	298.102	299.683	-0.6	-0.8	0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)		431.036	436.415	439.388	5.9	1.9	0.7
Services less medical care services		404.452	408.246	410.475	5.0	1.5	0.5
Energy		353.908	352.784	356.324	0.6	0.7	1.0
All items less energy		326.774	329.111	330.269	3.4	1.1	0.4
All items less food and energy		325.647	327.948	329.273	3.6	1.1	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities		159.826	160.886	160.749	-0.6	0.6	-0.1
Energy commodities		343.570	330.784	335.880	-4.3	-2.2	1.5
Services less energy services		424.978	428.035	430.369	5.0	1.3	0.5
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.