Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.4 percent for the two months ending in March 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the March increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and shelter. (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 4.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 2.6 percent. Energy prices advanced 3.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 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, March 2021–March 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Mar 2024	4.3	4.7

Food prices increased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent, led by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-4.7 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-1.2 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 1.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.6 percent. Prices for food at home declined 0.1 percent since a year ago, led by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-4.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 6.6 percent.

The energy index rose 6.1 percent for the two months ending in March. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (8.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 3.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 3.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (10.0 percent). Prices paid for gasoline advanced 1.3 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 4.3 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (2.3 percent) and shelter (0.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-6.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.4 percent) and medical care (5.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in household furnishings and operations (-4.4 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-3.4 percent).

The May 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on June 12, 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	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Mar. 2023	Jan. 2024	Feb. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		131.358	-	133.144	4.3	1.4	-
Food and beverages		134.015	-	134.572	2.5	0.4	-
Food		135.262	-	135.797	2.6	0.4	-
Food at home		131.852	131.947	130.972	-0.1	-0.7	-0.7
Cereals and bakery products		153.524	150.044	151.710	1.8	-1.2	1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		132.855	134.170	133.675	-0.2	0.6	-0.4
Dairy and related products		112.795	114.857	110.810	-1.8	-1.8	-3.5
Fruits and vegetables		132.556	130.198	126.355	-4.4	-4.7	-3.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		130.411	133.867	135.187	4.1	3.7	1.0
Other food at home		126.411	126.647	125.873	-0.1	-0.4	-0.6
Food away from home		140.638	-	143.003	6.6	1.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		110.907	-	111.830	0.3	0.8	-
Housing		138.264	-	139.682	5.9	1.0	-
Shelter		137.790	138.712	139.058	7.4	0.9	0.2
Rent of primary residence		142.915	143.368	143.807	5.9	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		137.195	137.954	138.189	8.1	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		137.195	137.954	138.189	8.1	0.7	0.2
Fuels and utilities		161.457	-	165.092	6.5	2.3	-
Household energy		173.440	174.438	178.023	6.5	2.6	2.1
Energy services		174.859	175.970	179.606	6.8	2.7	2.1
Electricity		183.343	183.679	189.156	10.0	3.2	3.0
Utility (piped) gas service		149.174	153.301	150.015	-4.3	0.6	-2.1
Household furnishings and operations		117.771	-	118.505	-4.4	0.6	-
Apparel		112.057	-	113.242	-0.4	1.1	-
Transportation		132.350	-	139.741	4.6	5.6	-
Private transportation		133.887	-	142.395	4.7	6.4	-
New and used motor vehicles		113.428	-	115.982	-3.4	2.3	-
New vehicles		114.021	-	114.308	-2.5	0.3	-
Used cars and trucks		130.458	-	131.768	-2.6	1.0	-
Motor fuel		147.254	153.203	159.812	1.0	8.5	4.3
Gasoline (all types)		147.146	153.039	160.072	1.3	8.8	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		147.450	153.515	160.667	1.3	9.0	4.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		147.899	153.591	160.426	1.2	8.5	4.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		145.207	150.463	157.043	1.3	8.2	4.4
Medical care		-	-	127.704	5.5	-	-
Recreation		112.709	-	113.724	3.3	0.9	-
Education and communication		110.436	-	110.562	0.5	0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		129.012	-	129.119	2.8	0.1	-
Other goods and services		134.621	-	125.499	3.5	-6.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items		131.358	-	133.144	4.3	1.4	-
Commodities		124.772	-	126.329	0.1	1.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		119.884	-	122.070	-1.1	1.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		127.475	-	131.823	1.8	3.4	-
Durables		112.000	-	111.816	-4.4	-0.2	-
Services		136.084	-	138.023	7.1	1.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		131.753	-	133.537	4.2	1.4	-
All items less shelter		128.044	-	130.101	2.5	1.6	-
Commodities less food		119.568	-	121.711	-1.1	1.8	-
Nondurables		130.860	-	133.150	2.1	1.7	-
Nondurables less food		126.544	-	130.679	1.7	3.3	-
Services less rent of shelter		133.350	-	136.099	6.4	2.1	-
Services less medical care services		136.896	-	138.922	7.4	1.5	-
Energy		157.673	161.772	167.262	3.1	6.1	3.4
All items less energy		128.988	-	130.228	4.3	1.0	-
All items less food and energy		128.003	-	129.366	4.7	1.1	-
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.