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News Release Information

15-504-SAN
Tuesday, March 24, 2015

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

Consumer Price Index, Los Angeles area – February 2015

Area prices were up 0.7 percent over the past month, up 0.1 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the February increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and 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 inched up 0.1 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices fell 16.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.4 percent, but prices for food away from home rose 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 3.6 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home rose 3.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 6.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (11.8 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service declined 0.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 16.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-25.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 5.7 percent, but prices for electricity rose 0.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in February. The increase was primarily due to higher prices for apparel (1.2 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.0 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were lower prices for medical care (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent. Higher prices for shelter (3.1 percent) and other goods and services (0.9 percent) were partially offset by price declines in recreation (-2.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent), and apparel (-1.6 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Monthly Annual Monthly Annual Monthly Annual Monthly Annual Monthly Annual Monthly Annual

January

0.4 1.8 0.9 1.8 0.8 2.1 0.8 2.0 0.5 0.8 -0.3 -0.1

February

0.0 1.4 0.5 2.3 0.5 2.1 0.7 2.2 0.5 0.5  0.7  0.1

March

0.4 1.9 1.1 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.1 1.3 0.6 1.0    

April

0.2 1.9 0.5 3.3 0.0 1.5 -0.4 0.9 0.0 1.4    

May

0.2 1.8 0.0 3.1 0.1 1.6 0.1 1.0 0.4 1.7    

June

-0.2 0.9 -0.4 2.9 -0.4 1.6 -0.1 1.4 0.1 1.8    

July

0.1 0.9 -0.4 2.4 -0.1 1.9 -0.1 1.3 0.1 2.0    

August

0.2 0.8 0.2 2.4 0.6 2.3 0.1 0.8 -0.1 1.8    

September

-0.1 0.4 0.5 3.1 0.4 2.2 0.2 0.6 0.0 1.7    

October

0.3 0.7 0.0 2.8 0.8 3.0 0.1 -0.1 -0.1 1.4    

November

-0.4 0.7 -0.1 3.0 -1.0 2.1 -0.5 0.4 -0.7 1.3    

December

0.3 1.3 -0.5 2.2 -0.7 1.9 0.0 1.1 -0.5 0.7    

The March 2015 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2015.


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 Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura 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.

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

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Indexes
 
Percent change from-
Dec.
2014
Jan.
2015
Feb.
2015
Feb.
2014
Dec.
2014
Jan.
2015

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

240.475239.724241.2970.10.30.7

All items (1967=100)

710.470708.250712.900---

Food and beverages

248.373248.959248.8923.50.20.0

Food

248.592249.162249.0823.50.20.0

Food at home

259.048260.007259.0323.60.0-0.4

Food away from home

231.812231.880232.9383.40.50.5

Alcoholic beverages

230.784231.529231.6352.90.40.0

Housing

263.089263.629264.5502.50.60.3

Shelter

296.369297.583298.5373.10.70.3

Rent of primary residence (1)

310.326311.244312.1243.60.60.3

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

308.752309.388310.3252.70.50.3

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

308.746309.380310.3192.70.50.3

Fuels and utilities

303.089296.410296.2821.2-2.20.0

Household energy

273.371263.239262.995-1.4-3.8-0.1

Energy services (1)

272.074262.078261.782-1.3-3.8-0.1

Electricity (1)

314.900305.940305.9400.5-2.80.0

Utility (piped) gas service (1)

220.590207.746206.883-5.7-6.2-0.4

Household furnishings and operations

115.178116.202117.341-1.61.91.0

Apparel

106.951107.874109.115-1.62.01.2

Transportation

189.984184.091191.014-8.80.53.8

Private transportation

184.663178.621185.603-8.90.53.9

Motor fuel

219.410196.162219.228-25.6-0.111.8

Gasoline (all types)

214.466191.752214.426-25.60.011.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)

214.765191.777215.041-25.70.112.1

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)

206.660184.785203.866-24.9-1.410.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)

204.481184.240204.587-24.80.111.0

Medical care

424.437424.232418.580-1.3-1.4-1.3

Recreation (5)

102.267102.217102.833-2.60.60.6

Education and communication (5)

146.118145.220145.2430.4-0.60.0

Other goods and services

382.251382.703382.3100.90.0-0.1
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All items

240.475239.724241.2970.10.30.7

Commodities

173.170171.908174.376-2.70.71.4

Commodities less food & beverages

133.745131.745135.194-7.01.12.6

Nondurables less food & beverages

172.279167.072173.694-9.60.84.0

Durables

95.99297.02297.456-2.31.50.4

Services

300.033299.803300.4561.70.10.2
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

232.363231.600233.4010.20.40.8

All items less shelter

216.134214.533216.374-1.60.10.9

Commodities less food

137.941136.014139.383-6.51.02.5

Nondurables

211.115208.578212.127-2.80.51.7

Nondurables less food

177.759172.880179.152-8.70.83.6

Services less rent of shelter (2)

313.853311.525311.748-0.1-0.70.1

Services less medical care services

289.222288.946290.1062.10.30.4

Energy

240.905222.571236.829-16.9-1.76.4

All items less energy

242.302242.822243.4871.60.50.3

All items less food and energy

241.491242.003242.8061.20.50.3

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: Tuesday, March 24, 2015