Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.5 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 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 4.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 4.4 percent. Energy prices fell 2.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Hawaii, March 2021–March 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2021	1.8	0.9
May 2021	3.8	3.3
Jul 2021	4.6	3.8
Sep 2021	5.0	4.1
Nov 2021	5.4	3.4
Jan 2022	6.0	3.9
Mar 2022	7.5	5.3
May 2022	7.0	4.3
Jul 2022	6.8	3.9
Sep 2022	6.6	4.1
Nov 2022	5.8	3.6
Jan 2023	5.2	3.7
Mar 2023	3.3	3.0
May 2023	2.0	2.5
Jul 2023	2.1	3.3
Sep 2023	2.2	3.0
Nov 2023	3.6	4.8
Jan 2024	3.9	4.7
Mar 2024	4.8	5.6

Food prices declined 0.3 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.5 percent, led by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-2.7 percent). Prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.4 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 7.4 percent.

The energy index fell 0.3 percent for the two months ending in March. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-2.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 5.5 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 1.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 2.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity fell 2.1 percent and prices for natural gas service decreased 1.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (2.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-2.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (9.5 percent), other goods and services (4.4 percent) and recreation (3.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-5.2 percent) and education and communication (-1.5 percent).

The May 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu 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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=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		333.172	-	338.060	4.8	1.5	-
All items (1967=100)		917.214	-	930.670	-	-	-
Food and beverages		361.686	-	360.853	4.2	-0.2	-
Food		366.034	-	364.926	4.4	-0.3	-
Food at home		347.976	350.390	346.237	2.2	-0.5	-1.2
Cereals and bakery products		395.720	398.620	388.776	-3.5	-1.8	-2.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		322.865	324.924	329.778	3.8	2.1	1.5
Dairy and related products		289.320	286.027	283.982	-1.7	-1.8	-0.7
Fruits and vegetables		407.129	407.205	396.015	0.4	-2.7	-2.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		428.038	428.457	427.840	3.0	0.0	-0.1
Other food at home		350.889	358.183	350.315	6.1	-0.2	-2.2
Food away from home		381.486	-	381.321	7.4	0.0	-
Alcoholic beverages		286.528	-	292.933	0.8	2.2	-
Housing		362.002	-	369.234	7.8	2.0	-
Shelter		392.584	395.727	402.463	9.5	2.5	1.7
Rent of primary residence(2)		395.080	397.271	403.843	11.0	2.2	1.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		403.658	407.903	414.796	9.2	2.8	1.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		403.658	407.903	414.796	9.2	2.8	1.7
Fuels and utilities		463.982	-	463.097	-0.3	-0.2	-
Household energy		397.108	393.353	389.891	-2.1	-1.8	-0.9
Energy services		390.515	386.678	383.321	-2.0	-1.8	-0.9
Electricity		390.313	385.328	381.228	-2.1	-2.3	-1.1
Utility (piped) gas service		328.572	339.879	346.484	-1.6	5.5	1.9
Household furnishings and operations		169.849	-	167.329	0.3	-1.5	-
Apparel		126.701	-	126.207	-2.9	-0.4	-
Transportation		265.135	-	273.132	0.6	3.0	-
Private transportation		275.140	-	281.033	0.1	2.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		121.004	-	121.676	-5.2	0.6	-
New vehicles(1)		188.256	-	187.209	-2.7	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		308.181	-	311.276	-2.7	1.0	-
Motor fuel		360.907	363.345	364.643	-3.8	1.0	0.4
Gasoline (all types)		370.381	372.800	374.154	-3.8	1.0	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		384.400	386.987	388.554	-3.8	1.1	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		308.091	309.392	310.486	-4.0	0.8	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		347.720	349.794	350.534	-4.0	0.8	0.2
Medical care		507.812	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation(3)		149.924	-	155.260	3.8	3.6	-
Education and communication(3)		153.765	-	153.397	-1.5	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,007.393	-	2,007.393	4.4	0.0	-
Other goods and services		637.126	-	619.852	4.4	-2.7	-
Commodity and service group
All items		333.172	-	338.060	4.8	1.5	-
Commodities		250.973	-	250.972	-0.2	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		185.602	-	186.004	-3.7	0.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		243.724	-	246.797	-2.5	1.3	-
Durables		127.015	-	125.955	-4.9	-0.8	-
Services		405.056	-	414.129	7.4	2.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		323.806	-	328.620	5.1	1.5	-
All items less shelter		307.581	-	309.840	1.5	0.7	-
Commodities less food		189.701	-	190.212	-3.6	0.3	-
Nondurables		304.917	-	305.791	1.4	0.3	-
Nondurables less food		246.511	-	249.741	-2.3	1.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		416.949	-	424.292	3.8	1.8	-
Services less medical care services		395.511	-	405.400	7.9	2.5	-
Energy		377.077	376.869	376.132	-2.8	-0.3	-0.2
All items less energy		332.645	-	337.890	5.4	1.6	-
All items less food and energy		328.691	-	335.168	5.6	2.0	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (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.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.