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News Release Information

14-2134-SAN
Thursday, November 20, 2014

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, San Francisco Area - October 2014

Area prices were up 0.5 percent over the past two months, up 3.2 percent from a year ago

Prices in the greater San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent for the two months ending October 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (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 rose 3.2 percent. (See chart 1.) Energy prices decreased 3.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent since October 2013.

 

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent from August to October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home moved up 0.7 percent, and prices for food away from home increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 3.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 4.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home advanced 2.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 5.6 percent for the two months ending in October 2014. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-9.9 percent). Prices for electricity declined 0.5 percent, but prices for natural gas service advanced 6.8 percent since August.

Energy prices decreased 3.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-5.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 21.8 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 4.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.9 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.5 percent), shelter (0.9 percent), and recreation (0.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.1 percent) and education and communication (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent) and other goods and services (5.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in apparel (-1.2 percent) and education and communication (-1.1 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose CPI-U bi-monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month200920102011201220132014
Bi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnual

February

1.71.20.81.81.01.71.13.01.32.41.22.4

April

0.80.80.71.71.82.80.92.10.82.41.22.8

June

0.80.20.21.1-0.22.40.32.60.52.60.73.0

August

0.00.2-0.11.00.42.90.62.80.12.00.03.0

October

0.10.10.10.90.33.20.73.20.21.60.53.2

December

-0.82.6-0.21.5-0.42.9-1.42.2-0.42.6  

 

CPI-W

In October, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 250.508, up 0.3 percent from August. The CPI-W increased 2.8 percent over the year.

The December 2014 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is scheduled to be released on January 16, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (PST).


Technical Note

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Solano Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the San Francisco Information Office at (415) 625-2270 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Indexes
 
Percent change from-
Aug.
2014
Sep.
2014
Oct.
2014
Oct.
2013
Aug.
2014
Sep.
2014

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

253.354-254.5033.20.5-

All items (1967=100)

778.880-782.414---

Food and beverages

255.068-256.2423.50.5-

Food

254.888-256.3003.40.6-

Food at home

248.412247.303250.2314.20.71.2

Food away from home

262.111-262.9982.40.3-

Alcoholic beverages

262.361-260.8065.0-0.6-

Housing

279.766-282.9365.01.1-

Shelter

315.196316.782318.1055.40.90.4

Rent of primary residence (1)

352.421354.097355.8115.81.00.5

Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)

339.576340.644342.5804.80.90.6

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)

339.576340.644342.5804.80.90.6

Fuels and utilities

331.836-342.1015.43.1-

Household energy

302.311312.238306.8591.11.5-1.7

Energy services (1)

302.077311.544306.0981.11.3-1.7

Electricity (1)

315.630315.630314.185-4.2-0.5-0.5

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

261.626295.057279.51321.86.8-5.3

Household furnishings and operations

132.845-134.7721.21.5-

Apparel

118.890-117.618-1.2-1.1-

Transportation

198.602-196.461-0.4-1.1-

Private transportation

187.215-183.551-1.3-2.0-

Motor fuel

297.489287.115268.189-5.6-9.8-6.6

Gasoline (all types)

296.273285.836266.881-5.6-9.9-6.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)

297.943287.260267.856-5.8-10.1-6.8

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)

273.356264.230247.580-5.0-9.4-6.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)

274.718265.418248.619-5.3-9.5-6.3

Medical care

------

Recreation (5)

109.846-110.7910.90.9-

Education and communication (5)

141.870-141.655-1.1-0.2-

Other goods and services

427.337-428.6085.40.3-
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All items

253.354-254.5033.20.5-

Commodities

184.736-183.4420.7-0.7-

Commodities less food & beverages

145.071-142.793-1.4-1.6-

Nondurables less food & beverages

189.695-184.555-1.2-2.7-

Durables

102.610-102.836-1.70.2-

Services

310.950-314.1444.51.0-
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

245.266-246.4163.00.5-

All items less shelter

229.368-229.7461.90.2-

Commodities less food

150.288-148.013-1.1-1.5-

Nondurables

224.062-221.9041.4-1.0-

Nondurables less food

195.409-190.491-0.6-2.5-

Services less rent of shelter (2)

321.638-325.3523.31.2-

Services less medical care services

301.818-305.2254.31.1-

Energy

302.711299.816285.743-3.0-5.6-4.7

All items less energy

253.827-255.9373.60.8-

All items less food and energy

254.448-256.6763.60.9-

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) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, November 20, 2014