Consumer Price Index - August 2023

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until 8:30 am (ET) September 13, 2023

Top Takeaways

1-month percent change, August 2023

+0.6%

CPI-U, all items, seasonally adjusted

12-month percent change, August 2023

+3.7%

CPI-U, all items, not seasonally adjusted

Headline

CPI for all items rises 0.6% in August; gasoline and shelter up

CPI-U, 1-month changes, seasonally adjusted

CPI, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2020 to August 2023
Month	All items	Food	Energy	All items less food and energy
Aug 2020	0.4%	0.1%	1.5%	0.4%
Sept 2020	0.2%	0.1%	1.5%	0.2%
Oct 2020	0.1%	0.2%	-0.3%	0.1%
Nov 2020	0.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.2%
Dec 2020	0.5%	0.4%	4.9%	0.1%
Jan 2021	0.2%	0.2%	2.8%	0.0%
Feb 2021	0.4%	0.1%	3.9%	0.1%
Mar 2021	0.5%	0.1%	3.5%	0.3%
Apr 2021	0.7%	0.3%	0.2%	0.8%
May 2021	0.7%	0.4%	0.3%	0.7%
June 2021	0.8%	0.7%	1.5%	0.7%
July 2021	0.4%	0.6%	1.7%	0.3%
Aug 2021	0.4%	0.4%	2.8%	0.2%
Sept 2021	0.4%	0.9%	1.5%	0.3%
Oct 2021	0.9%	0.9%	3.6%	0.7%
Nov 2021	0.8%	0.8%	2.6%	0.6%
Dec 2021	0.8%	0.6%	2.4%	0.7%
Jan 2022	0.6%	0.8%	0.8%	0.6%
Feb 2022	0.7%	1.0%	2.7%	0.5%
Mar 2022	1.0%	0.9%	8.2%	0.3%
Apr 2022	0.4%	0.8%	-1.0%	0.5%
May 2022	0.9%	1.1%	3.4%	0.6%
June 2022	1.2%	1.0%	6.9%	0.6%
July 2022	0.0%	1.1%	-4.7%	0.3%
Aug 2022	0.2%	0.8%	-3.9%	0.6%
Sept 2022	0.4%	0.8%	-1.7%	0.6%
Oct 2022	0.5%	0.7%	1.7%	0.3%
Nov 2022	0.2%	0.6%	-1.4%	0.3%
Dec 2022	0.1%	0.4%	-3.1%	0.4%
Jan 2023	0.5%	0.5%	2.0%	0.4%
Feb 2023	0.4%	0.4%	-0.6%	0.5%
Mar 2023	0.1%	0.0%	-3.5%	0.4%
Apr 2023	0.4%	0.0%	0.6%	0.4%
May 2023	0.1%	0.2%	-3.6%	0.4%
June 2023	0.2%	0.1%	0.6%	0.2%
July 2023	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%
Aug 2023	0.6%	0.2%	5.6%	0.3%

All items and selected categories

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent in August after increasing 0.2 percent in July.
The energy index increased 5.6 percent in August.
The index for gasoline, which rose 10.6 percent, was the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase.
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in August.
The index for shelter increased 0.3 percent in August, which was the 40th consecutive increase in that index.
The food index increased 0.2 percent in August.

Food CPI, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2023
Item	Percent change
Food at home	0.2%
Other food at home	0.2%
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	0.8%
Fruits and vegetables	-0.2%
Cereals and bakery products	0.5%
Nonalcoholic beverages	-0.2%
Dairy and related products	-0.4%
Food away from home	0.3%
Full service meals	0.2%
Limited service meals	0.3%

Food

The index for food increased 0.2 percent in August following an increase of 0.2 percent in July.
The index for food at home increased 0.2 percent in August after increasing 0.3 percent in July.
The six major grocery store food group indexes were split over the month, with three increases and three decreases.
The index for pork increased 2.2 percent in August.
The index for food away from home increased 0.3 percent in August following an increase of 0.2 percent in July.

Energy CPI, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2023
Item	Percent change
Energy	5.6%
Gasoline	10.6%
Electricity	0.2%
Natural gas	0.1%

Energy

The energy index increased 5.6 percent in August as gasoline increased, fuel oil increased, electricity increased, and natural gas increased.
The gasoline index increased 10.6 percent in August following an increase of 0.2 percent in July.
Before seasonal adjustment, gasoline prices increased 5.9 percent in August.
The electricity index increased 0.2 percent in August after decreasing 0.7 percent in July.
The index for natural gas increased 0.1 percent in August after increasing 2.0 percent in July.

All items less food and energy CPI, 1-month percent change, seasonally adjusted, August 2023
Item	Percent change
All items less food and energy	0.3%
Shelter	0.3%
Apparel	0.2%
New vehicles	0.3%
Used cars and trucks	-1.2%
Medical care	0.2%
Recreation	-0.2%
Education	0.1%
Communication	-0.1%

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in August following an increase of 0.2 percent in July.
The shelter index increased 0.3 percent in August as the index for rent increased 0.5 percent, and owners' equivalent rent increased 0.4 percent.
The index for motor vehicle insurance increased 2.4 percent in August after rising 2.0 percent the preceding month.
The index for new vehicles increased 0.3 percent in August following a decrease of 0.1 percent in July.
The index for medical care increased 0.2 percent in August following a decrease of 0.2 percent in July.
The index for used cars and trucks decreased 1.2 percent in August following a decrease of 1.3 percent in July.

CPI-U, 12-month changes, not seasonally adjusted

CPI, 12-month percent change, not seasonally adjusted, August 2020 to August 2023
Month	All items	Food	Energy	All items less food and energy
Aug 2020	1.3%	4.1%	-9.0%	1.7%
Sept 2020	1.4%	3.9%	-7.7%	1.7%
Oct 2020	1.2%	3.9%	-9.2%	1.6%
Nov 2020	1.2%	3.7%	-9.4%	1.6%
Dec 2020	1.4%	3.9%	-7.0%	1.6%
Jan 2021	1.4%	3.8%	-3.6%	1.4%
Feb 2021	1.7%	3.6%	2.4%	1.3%
Mar 2021	2.6%	3.5%	13.2%	1.6%
Apr 2021	4.2%	2.4%	25.1%	3.0%
May 2021	5.0%	2.2%	28.5%	3.8%
June 2021	5.4%	2.4%	24.5%	4.5%
July 2021	5.4%	3.4%	23.8%	4.3%
Aug 2021	5.3%	3.7%	25.0%	4.0%
Sept 2021	5.4%	4.6%	24.8%	4.0%
Oct 2021	6.2%	5.3%	30.0%	4.6%
Nov 2021	6.8%	6.1%	33.3%	4.9%
Dec 2021	7.0%	6.3%	29.3%	5.5%
Jan 2022	7.5%	7.0%	27.0%	6.0%
Feb 2022	7.9%	7.9%	25.6%	6.4%
Mar 2022	8.5%	8.8%	32.0%	6.5%
Apr 2022	8.3%	9.4%	30.3%	6.2%
May 2022	8.6%	10.1%	34.6%	6.0%
June 2022	9.1%	10.4%	41.6%	5.9%
July 2022	8.5%	10.9%	32.9%	5.9%
Aug 2022	8.3%	11.4%	23.8%	6.3%
Sept 2022	8.2%	11.2%	19.8%	6.6%
Oct 2022	7.7%	10.9%	17.6%	6.3%
Nov 2022	7.1%	10.6%	13.1%	6.0%
Dec 2022	6.5%	10.4%	7.3%	5.7%
Jan 2023	6.4%	10.1%	8.7%	5.6%
Feb 2023	6.0%	9.5%	5.2%	5.5%
Mar 2023	5.0%	8.5%	-6.4%	5.6%
Apr 2023	4.9%	7.7%	-5.1%	5.5%
May 2023	4.0%	6.7%	-11.7%	5.3%
June 2023	3.0%	5.7%	-16.7%	4.8%
July 2023	3.2%	4.9%	-12.5%	4.7%
Aug 2023	3.7%	4.3%	-3.6%	4.3%

All items and selected categories

Over the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 3.7 percent before seasonal adjustment to an index level of 307.026.
The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent over the year.
The shelter index increased 7.3 percent over the year.
The energy index decreased 3.6 percent over the year.
The food index increased 4.3 percent over the year.

Food CPI, 12-month percent change, not seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
Item	Percent change
Food at home	3.0%
Other food at home	4.5%
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	0.0%
Fruits and vegetables	2.1%
Cereals and bakery products	6.0%
Nonalcoholic beverages	4.8%
Dairy and related products	0.3%
Food away from home	6.5%
Full service meals	5.2%
Limited service meals	6.7%

Food

Over the last 12 months, the index for food increased 4.3 percent.
The index for food at home increased 3.0 percent over the year; five major grocery store food groups increased, and one major grocery store food group was unchanged.
The index for food away from home increased 6.5 percent over the year. The index for full service meals increased 5.2 percent, and the index for limited service meals increased 6.7 percent.

Energy CPI, 12-month percent change, not seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
Item	Percent change
Energy	-3.6%
Gasoline	-3.3%
Electricity	2.1%
Natural gas	-16.5%

Energy

Over the last 12 months, the energy index decreased 3.6 percent.
The gasoline index decreased 3.3 percent over the year.
The natural gas index decreased 16.5 percent over the year.
The index for electricity increased 2.1 percent over the year.

All items less food and energy CPI, 12-month percent change, not seasonally adjusted, August 2022 to August 2023
Item	Percent change
All items less food and energy	4.3%
Shelter	7.3%
Apparel	3.1%
New vehicles	2.9%
Used cars and trucks	-6.6%
Medical Care	-1.0%
Recreation	3.5%
Education	2.9%
Communication	-0.2%

All items less food and energy

Over the last 12 months, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent.
The shelter index increased 7.3 percent over the year.
The motor vehicle insurance index increased 19.1 percent over the year.
The recreation index increased 3.5 percent over the year.
The new vehicles index increased 2.9 percent over the year.
The used cars and trucks index decreased 6.6 percent over the year.
The medical care index decreased 1.0 percent over the year.

Additional Measures

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 3.4 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 301.551. For the month, the index increased 0.6 percent prior to seasonal adjustment.
The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) increased 3.7 percent over the last 12 months. For the month, the index increased 0.4 percent on a not seasonally adjusted basis. Please note that the indexes for the past 10 to 12 months are subject to revision.

Additional Information

Contact Information

Technical information:
- (202) 691-7000; cpi_info@bls.gov; www.bls.gov/cpi
Media contact:
- (202) 691-5902; PressOffice@bls.gov

Next Release

October 12, 2023 at 8:30 am (ET)

What are Consumer Price Indexes?

Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) measure the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. Indexes are available for the U.S. and various geographic areas.