Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.2 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the April increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline. (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 advanced 2.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices decreased 8.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged down 0.1 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.2 percent, while prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.1 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.9 percent, but prices for food at home decreased 0.9 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index advanced 2.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service edged down 0.2 percent, and prices for electricity declined 0.8 percent in the same period.

Energy prices decreased 8.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-12.7 percent). Prices paid for electricity decreased 2.7 percent, and natural gas service prices decreased 1.6 percent for during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in April. Higher prices for education and communication (0.6 percent) and recreation (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (6.1 percent), apparel (4.8 percent), and recreation (4.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-0.5 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.2 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.9	1.8	0.8	2.1	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1
February	0.5	2.3	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4
March	1.1	3.0	1.0	2.0	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7
April	0.5	3.3	0.0	1.5	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0
May	0.0	3.1	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1
June	-0.4	2.9	-0.4	1.6	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8
July	-0.4	2.4	-0.1	1.9	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4
August	0.2	2.4	0.6	2.3	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1
September	0.5	3.1	0.4	2.2	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7
October	0.0	2.8	0.8	3.0	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0
November	-0.1	3.0	-1.0	2.1	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6
December	-0.5	2.2	-0.7	1.9	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0

The May 2016 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on June 16, 2016.

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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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: (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-
	Feb. 2016	Mar. 2016	Apr. 2016	Apr. 2015	Feb. 2016	Mar. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	247.113	247.873	248.368	2.0	0.5	0.2
All items (1967=100)	730.081	732.326	733.789	-	-	-
Food and beverages	253.685	251.983	251.897	1.2	-0.7	0.0
Food	253.784	252.276	251.963	1.1	-0.7	-0.1
Food at home	259.695	257.293	256.657	-0.9	-1.2	-0.2
Food away from home	242.695	242.309	242.399	3.9	-0.1	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	237.203	232.810	235.990	2.1	-0.5	1.4
Housing	273.047	274.461	274.434	3.4	0.5	0.0
Shelter	310.774	312.834	312.811	4.2	0.7	0.0
Rent of primary residence (1)	325.509	327.213	327.656	4.4	0.7	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	322.226	324.010	324.669	4.0	0.8	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	322.208	323.991	324.650	4.0	0.8	0.2
Fuels and utilities	295.788	294.079	295.939	0.4	0.1	0.6
Household energy	259.039	256.816	255.231	-2.2	-1.5	-0.6
Energy services (1)	257.877	255.612	253.993	-2.2	-1.5	-0.6
Electricity (1)	300.681	300.681	298.355	-2.7	-0.8	-0.8
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	204.573	196.839	196.540	-1.6	-3.9	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations	116.170	116.467	115.712	-0.2	-0.4	-0.6
Apparel	116.730	115.327	113.514	4.8	-2.8	-1.6
Transportation	185.554	190.285	193.329	-3.6	4.2	1.6
Private transportation	180.257	185.199	187.864	-3.5	4.2	1.4
Motor fuel	191.643	208.369	217.508	-12.8	13.5	4.4
Gasoline (all types)	187.573	204.098	213.056	-12.7	13.6	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	187.470	204.218	213.367	-12.9	13.8	4.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	181.278	195.380	203.592	-12.5	12.3	4.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	180.614	196.381	204.154	-11.7	13.0	4.0
Medical care	457.056	449.147	448.437	6.1	-1.9	-0.2
Recreation (5)	107.655	106.944	107.340	4.4	-0.3	0.4
Education and communication (5)	144.245	145.086	145.919	-0.5	1.2	0.6
Other goods and services	392.085	389.418	389.765	2.1	-0.6	0.1
Commodity and service group
All items	247.113	247.873	248.368	2.0	0.5	0.2
Commodities	173.879	174.717	175.171	-0.9	0.7	0.3
Commodities less food & beverages	132.515	134.345	134.996	-2.4	1.9	0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	169.987	173.393	174.794	-2.7	2.8	0.8
Durables	95.816	96.090	96.000	-2.1	0.2	-0.1
Services	312.265	312.952	313.483	3.6	0.4	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	238.028	239.117	239.656	1.7	0.7	0.2
All items less shelter	219.387	219.558	220.292	0.7	0.4	0.3
Commodities less food	136.919	138.610	139.335	-2.2	1.8	0.5
Nondurables	212.307	213.437	214.185	-0.6	0.9	0.4
Nondurables less food	175.929	178.984	180.497	-2.3	2.6	0.8
Services less rent of shelter (2)	323.216	321.891	323.431	2.8	0.1	0.5
Services less medical care services	299.917	301.292	301.870	3.4	0.7	0.2
Energy	218.222	227.738	232.795	-8.6	6.7	2.2
All items less energy	251.168	251.274	251.429	2.8	0.1	0.1
All items less food and energy	251.059	251.438	251.672	3.1	0.2	0.1
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.