Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged down 0.2 percent in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The November decrease was influenced by lower prices for electricity and apparel. (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 increased 2.3 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 2.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.4 percent for the month of November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent, while prices for food away from home were virtually unchanged for the same period.

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

Energy

The energy index decreased 2.7 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-3.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 6.6 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 1.5 percent in for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 2.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (4.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 5.6 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 0.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

Prices for all items less food and energy did not change in November. Prices for shelter, new vehicles, and education and communication all rose 0.2 percent. Offsetting these increases were lower prices for apparel (-1.7 percent) and recreation (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.2 percent) and medical care (3.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in education and communication (-1.1 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	0.0	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	-0.2	2.3
December	-0.3	2.7	-0.5	1.7	0.0	1.8	-0.5	1.3	-0.1	1.8

The December 2016 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on January 18, 2017.

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-
	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Nov. 2015	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016
Expenditure category
All Items	249.234	249.897	249.448	2.3	0.1	-0.2
All items (December 1977=100)	402.873	403.945	403.218
Food and beverages	251.375	251.902	251.105	-0.3	-0.1	-0.3
Food	251.334	251.766	250.877	-0.4	-0.2	-0.4
Food at home	244.627	245.051	243.396	-2.6	-0.5	-0.7
Food away from home	259.616	260.057	260.265	2.6	0.2	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	248.625	250.423	250.874	2.1	0.9	0.2
Housing	268.004	269.287	269.068	4.6	0.4	-0.1
Shelter	305.353	306.763	307.505	5.2	0.7	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)	320.634	322.717	324.716	5.7	1.3	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	320.346	321.546	323.569	5.4	1.0	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	320.357	321.556	323.579	5.4	1.0	0.6
Fuels and utilities	291.756	292.784	285.299	4.4	-2.2	-2.6
Household energy	254.309	255.621	245.626	4.7	-3.4	-3.9
Energy services(1)	256.818	258.405	247.811	4.9	-3.5	-4.1
Electricity(1)	281.990	283.386	274.032	4.7	-2.8	-3.3
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	213.032	215.177	200.941	5.6	-5.7	-6.6
Household furnishings and operations	127.680	128.653	128.384	0.0	0.6	-0.2
Apparel	121.771	122.540	120.424	1.3	-1.1	-1.7
Transportation	197.574	198.088	197.566	0.2	0.0	-0.3
Private transportation	191.913	192.528	191.730	0.8	-0.1	-0.4
New and used motor vehicles(3)	99.901	99.591	99.027	-1.1	-0.9	-0.6
New vehicles	146.302	147.660	148.005	1.0	1.2	0.2
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	101.598	102.540	102.789	1.0	1.2	0.2
New cars(4)	144.427	144.931	145.031	-0.2	0.4	0.1
Used cars and trucks	136.440	134.005	131.976	-4.4	-3.3	-1.5
Motor fuel	207.233	210.132	207.062	0.8	-0.1	-1.5
Gasoline (all types)	206.433	209.335	206.182	0.9	-0.1	-1.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	203.841	206.703	203.490	0.8	-0.2	-1.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	196.725	199.935	197.222	0.1	0.3	-1.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	204.194	206.935	204.463	1.5	0.1	-1.2
Medical Care	473.509	473.706	473.402	3.2	0.0	-0.1
Medical care commodities	360.376	357.783	356.252	2.9	-1.1	-0.4
Medical care services	509.451	510.693	510.854	3.3	0.3	0.0
Professional services	351.639	351.944	351.991	3.1	0.1	0.0
Recreation(3)	112.587	112.100	111.750	0.4	-0.7	-0.3
Education and communication(3)	137.231	137.050	137.293	-1.1	0.0	0.2
Other goods and services	410.321	409.272	410.257	1.1	0.0	0.2
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	249.234	249.897	249.448	2.3	0.1	-0.2
Commodities	178.227	178.689	177.732	-0.3	-0.3	-0.5
Commodities less food & beverages	141.867	142.283	141.306	-0.4	-0.4	-0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages	180.142	180.595	179.010	0.8	-0.6	-0.9
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	221.613	221.874	220.591	0.6	-0.5	-0.6
Durables	106.801	107.174	106.718	-1.8	-0.1	-0.4
Services	314.903	315.754	315.799	3.8	0.3	0.0
Rent of shelter(2)	324.978	326.484	327.282	5.3	0.7	0.2
Transportation services	288.181	288.372	290.285	1.5	0.7	0.7
Other services	342.846	342.064	341.973	0.8	-0.3	0.0
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	238.988	239.671	239.216	2.3	0.1	-0.2
All items less food	249.078	249.778	249.395	2.8	0.1	-0.2
All items less shelter	227.554	227.905	226.941	0.7	-0.3	-0.4
Commodities less food	145.853	146.308	145.361	-0.3	-0.3	-0.6
Nondurables	215.718	216.212	214.975	0.2	-0.3	-0.6
Nondurables less food	185.180	185.711	184.231	0.9	-0.5	-0.8
Nondurables less food and apparel	223.878	224.277	223.150	0.8	-0.3	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)	337.555	337.637	336.692	2.0	-0.3	-0.3
Services less medical care services	301.371	302.194	302.232	3.9	0.3	0.0
Energy	230.628	232.851	226.655	2.7	-1.7	-2.7
All items less energy	252.668	253.220	253.197	2.3	0.2	0.0
All items less food and energy	253.667	254.241	254.364	2.8	0.3	0.0
Commodities less food and energy commodities	139.560	139.753	139.023	-0.4	-0.4	-0.5
Energy commodities	211.422	214.140	211.279	0.8	-0.1	-1.3
Services less energy services	319.415	320.223	320.930	3.8	0.5	0.2
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.