Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and 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 2.3 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 0.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices crept up 0.2 percent for the month of October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home and prices for food away from home both inched up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices declined 0.4 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 2.6 percent since a year ago, but prices for food away from home increased 2.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 1.0 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 1.0 percent, and prices for electricity increased 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 0.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (4.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 5.0 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 2.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy crept up 0.2 percent in October. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (0.8 percent), apparel (0.6 percent), and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.8 percent) and recreation (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.3 percent) and medical care (3.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-1.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.4 percent).

Table A. West Region 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	0.5	1.4	0.4	2.6	0.3	1.7	0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.7	0.5	2.6
February	0.6	1.9	0.4	2.5	0.8	2.0	0.4	1.3	0.6	0.9	0.1	2.1
March	0.9	2.6	0.9	2.4	0.4	1.5	0.6	1.5	0.8	1.1	0.2	1.5
April	0.6	3.0	0.2	2.1	0.0	1.3	0.3	1.8	0.3	1.0	0.5	1.8
May	0.3	3.2	0.2	2.0	0.2	1.3	0.6	2.3	0.8	1.2	0.5	1.5
June	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.0	0.1	1.5	0.1	2.3	0.0	1.1	0.2	1.6
July	-0.1	2.9	-0.3	1.8	0.0	1.9	0.1	2.3	0.3	1.3	0.1	1.4
August	0.2	3.0	0.5	2.1	0.1	1.5	-0.1	2.1	-0.1	1.3	(1)0.0	(1)1.5
September	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.2	0.2	1.3	0.1	2.0	-0.2	1.0	0.3	2.0
October	0.0	3.4	0.4	2.5	-0.1	0.9	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.3
November	-0.2	3.2	-0.7	1.9	-0.4	1.3	-0.6	1.7	-0.2	1.5
December	-0.3	2.7	-0.5	1.7	0.0	1.8	-0.5	1.3	-0.1	1.8
Footnotes (1) Revised.

The November 2016 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on December 15, 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Aug. 2016	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016	Oct. 2015	Aug. 2016	Sep. 2016
Expenditure category
All Items	248.498	249.234	249.897	2.3	0.6	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	401.684	402.873	403.945
Food and beverages	251.107	251.375	251.902	-0.2	0.3	0.2
Food	251.125	251.334	251.766	-0.4	0.3	0.2
Food at home	244.517	244.627	245.051	-2.6	0.2	0.2
Food away from home	259.267	259.616	260.057	2.8	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	247.565	248.625	250.423	2.0	1.2	0.7
Housing	266.962	268.004	269.287	4.6	0.9	0.5
Shelter	303.830	305.353	306.763	5.3	1.0	0.5
Rent of primary residence (1)	318.858	320.634	322.717	5.6	1.2	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	318.592	320.346	321.546	5.1	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	318.605	320.357	321.556	5.1	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities	292.102	291.756	292.784	4.0	0.2	0.4
Household energy	255.258	254.309	255.621	4.1	0.1	0.5
Energy services (1)	258.008	256.818	258.405	4.3	0.2	0.6
Electricity (1)	283.658	281.990	283.386	4.1	-0.1	0.5
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	213.155	213.032	215.177	5.0	0.9	1.0
Household furnishings and operations	127.703	127.680	128.653	-0.4	0.7	0.8
Apparel	119.204	121.771	122.540	1.0	2.8	0.6
Transportation	197.258	197.574	198.088	-0.2	0.4	0.3
Private transportation	191.675	191.913	192.528	0.2	0.4	0.3
New and used motor vehicles (3)	100.866	99.901	99.591	-0.8	-1.3	-0.3
New vehicles	146.718	146.302	147.660	1.2	0.6	0.9
New cars and trucks (3) (4)	101.896	101.598	102.540	1.2	0.6	0.9
New cars (4)	144.370	144.427	144.931	-0.1	0.4	0.3
Used cars and trucks	138.690	136.440	134.005	-4.7	-3.4	-1.8
Motor fuel	201.320	207.233	210.132	-2.1	4.4	1.4
Gasoline (all types)	200.512	206.433	209.335	-2.1	4.4	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)	197.945	203.841	206.703	-2.1	4.4	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)	191.411	196.725	199.935	-2.9	4.5	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)	198.577	204.194	206.935	-1.7	4.2	1.3
Medical Care	472.902	473.509	473.706	3.8	0.2	0.0
Medical care commodities	357.339	360.376	357.783	4.2	0.1	-0.7
Medical care services	509.765	509.451	510.693	3.7	0.2	0.2
Professional services	351.269	351.639	351.944	4.0	0.2	0.1
Recreation (3)	112.195	112.587	112.100	0.6	-0.1	-0.4
Education and communication (3)	137.840	137.231	137.050	-1.2	-0.6	-0.1
Other goods and services	408.664	410.321	409.272	0.8	0.1	-0.3
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	248.498	249.234	249.897	2.3	0.6	0.3
Commodities	177.492	178.227	178.689	-0.6	0.7	0.3
Commodities less food & beverages	140.982	141.867	142.283	-0.9	0.9	0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	177.212	180.142	180.595	0.0	1.9	0.3
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	218.381	221.613	221.874	-0.4	1.6	0.1
Durables	107.597	106.801	107.174	-1.9	-0.4	0.3
Services	314.176	314.903	315.754	3.9	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter (2)	323.347	324.978	326.484	5.3	1.0	0.5
Transportation services	289.217	288.181	288.372	1.8	-0.3	0.1
Other services	342.714	342.846	342.064	0.9	-0.2	-0.2
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	238.248	238.988	239.671	2.2	0.6	0.3
All items less food	248.261	249.078	249.778	2.7	0.6	0.3
All items less shelter	227.149	227.554	227.905	0.6	0.3	0.2
Commodities less food	144.956	145.853	146.308	-0.7	0.9	0.3
Nondurables	213.996	215.718	216.212	-0.1	1.0	0.2
Nondurables less food	182.336	185.180	185.711	0.1	1.9	0.3
Nondurables less food and apparel	220.844	223.878	224.277	-0.1	1.6	0.2
Services less rent of shelter (2)	337.941	337.555	337.637	2.2	-0.1	0.0
Services less medical care services	300.579	301.371	302.194	3.9	0.5	0.3
Energy	227.710	230.628	232.851	0.9	2.3	1.0
All items less energy	252.090	252.668	253.220	2.4	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	253.024	253.667	254.241	2.9	0.5	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	139.264	139.560	139.753	-0.5	0.4	0.1
Energy commodities	205.360	211.422	214.140	-2.1	4.3	1.3
Services less energy services	318.567	319.415	320.223	3.9	0.5	0.3
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) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.