Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The April increase was influenced by higher prices for energy and other goods and services. (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 2.9 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices rose 8.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.3 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent, but prices for food at home were virtually unchanged (0.1 percent) for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.1 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.3 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home declined 0.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.5 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 3.4 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 1.2 percent in the same period.

Energy prices rose 8.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (11.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 4.9 percent, and prices for electricity rose 3.0 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 April. Higher prices for other goods and services (3.2 percent) and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent) and apparel (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent) and other goods and services (4.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-2.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.8 percent).

Table A. West Region CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.4	2.6	0.3	1.7	0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.7	0.5	2.6	0.5	2.5
February	0.4	2.5	0.8	2.0	0.4	1.3	0.6	0.9	0.1	2.1	0.6	3.0
March	0.9	2.4	0.4	1.5	0.6	1.5	0.8	1.1	0.2	1.5	0.3	3.1
April	0.2	2.1	0.0	1.3	0.3	1.8	0.3	1.0	0.5	1.8	0.3	2.9
May	0.2	2.0	0.2	1.3	0.6	2.3	0.8	1.2	0.5	1.5
June	-0.2	2.0	0.1	1.5	0.1	2.3	0.0	1.1	0.2	1.6
July	-0.3	1.8	0.0	1.9	0.1	2.3	0.3	1.3	0.1	1.4
August	0.5	2.1	0.1	1.5	-0.1	2.1	-0.1	1.3	0.0	1.5
September	0.5	2.2	0.2	1.3	0.1	2.0	-0.2	1.0	0.3	2.0
October	0.4	2.5	-0.1	0.9	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.3
November	-0.7	1.9	-0.4	1.3	-0.6	1.7	-0.2	1.5	-0.2	2.3
December	-0.5	1.7	0.0	1.8	-0.5	1.3	-0.1	1.8	0.0	2.5

The May 2017 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on June 14, 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-
	Feb. 2017	Mar. 2017	Apr. 2017	Apr. 2016	Feb. 2017	Mar. 2017
Expenditure category
All Items	252.252	252.949	253.806	2.9	0.6	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	407.752	408.878	410.263
Food and beverages	253.665	254.373	255.097	1.2	0.6	0.3
Food	253.451	254.222	254.883	1.1	0.6	0.3
Food at home	245.268	246.208	246.511	-0.4	0.5	0.1
Food away from home	263.827	264.355	265.522	3.3	0.6	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	253.216	253.051	254.621	2.3	0.6	0.6
Housing	272.828	273.355	274.112	4.6	0.5	0.3
Shelter	312.523	313.379	314.096	5.4	0.5	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)	328.850	329.966	330.389	5.5	0.5	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	327.843	328.605	329.569	5.3	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	327.861	328.622	329.586	5.3	0.5	0.3
Fuels and utilities	286.151	285.958	289.567	3.8	1.2	1.3
Household energy	244.239	243.987	247.896	3.7	1.5	1.6
Energy services(1)	245.570	245.440	249.575	3.4	1.6	1.7
Electricity(1)	272.386	272.976	276.195	3.0	1.4	1.2
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	197.136	195.274	201.863	4.9	2.4	3.4
Household furnishings and operations	129.047	128.729	128.292	-0.8	-0.6	-0.3
Apparel	120.784	121.617	120.457	-0.8	-0.3	-1.0
Transportation	201.030	203.506	205.005	3.4	2.0	0.7
Private transportation	195.089	197.594	198.878	3.8	1.9	0.6
New and used motor vehicles(3)	100.007	100.363	100.914	-1.1	0.9	0.5
New vehicles	149.781	149.494	149.330	0.7	-0.3	-0.1
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	104.024	103.836	103.728	0.8	-0.3	-0.1
New cars(4)	146.679	146.411	146.018	-0.1	-0.5	-0.3
Used cars and trucks	132.307	133.733	135.176	-4.3	2.2	1.1
Motor fuel	214.221	221.855	224.871	12.1	5.0	1.4
Gasoline (all types)	213.296	220.993	224.041	11.9	5.0	1.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	210.460	218.145	221.326	12.2	5.2	1.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	204.449	212.184	214.002	10.6	4.7	0.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	211.541	218.508	220.855	11.3	4.4	1.1
Medical Care	474.386	475.647	476.828	2.3	0.5	0.2
Medical care commodities	362.890	364.078	366.725	4.2	1.1	0.7
Medical care services	509.700	510.971	511.585	1.8	0.4	0.1
Professional services	353.075	353.935	350.724	0.7	-0.7	-0.9
Recreation(3)	112.937	112.930	112.899	0.8	0.0	0.0
Education and communication(3)	137.112	135.530	135.177	-2.4	-1.4	-0.3
Other goods and services	412.154	411.921	424.946	4.3	3.1	3.2
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	252.252	252.949	253.806	2.9	0.6	0.3
Commodities	179.637	180.523	181.264	1.3	0.9	0.4
Commodities less food & beverages	142.872	143.789	144.503	1.4	1.1	0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	181.496	183.433	185.192	4.1	2.0	1.0
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	224.490	227.175	230.834	5.8	2.8	1.6
Durables	107.494	107.559	107.406	-2.1	-0.1	-0.1
Services	319.440	319.945	320.904	3.8	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)	332.665	333.584	334.350	5.4	0.5	0.2
Transportation services	295.116	297.076	299.346	3.3	1.4	0.8
Other services	343.590	342.105	342.045	0.4	-0.4	0.0
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	242.097	242.767	243.609	3.0	0.6	0.3
All items less food	252.238	252.923	253.811	3.2	0.6	0.4
All items less shelter	228.826	229.460	230.385	1.6	0.7	0.4
Commodities less food	146.960	147.856	148.599	1.5	1.1	0.5
Nondurables	217.527	218.913	220.211	2.5	1.2	0.6
Nondurables less food	186.725	188.555	190.316	3.9	1.9	0.9
Nondurables less food and apparel	226.907	229.334	232.804	5.4	2.6	1.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)	338.443	338.458	339.783	1.8	0.4	0.4
Services less medical care services	306.169	306.623	307.602	4.0	0.5	0.3
Energy	230.081	234.283	237.732	8.0	3.3	1.5
All items less energy	255.978	256.418	257.087	2.6	0.4	0.3
All items less food and energy	257.189	257.574	258.247	2.8	0.4	0.3
Commodities less food and energy commodities	139.911	140.033	140.525	-0.4	0.4	0.4
Energy commodities	219.042	226.565	229.502	12.1	4.8	1.3
Services less energy services	324.947	325.493	326.258	3.8	0.4	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.