Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.5 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and electricity. (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 rose 4.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices jumped 17.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the month of October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.5 percent, and prices for food away from home crept up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.0 percent since a year ago, while prices for food at home were virtually unchanged.

Energy

The energy index advanced 4.3 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.6 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 8.3 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 6.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 17.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (26.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 4.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 0.4 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 October. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.9 percent), apparel (0.8 percent), medical care (0.7 percent), and recreation (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (4.2 percent), and education and communication (2.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in medical care (-0.7 percent) and recreation (-0.1 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5
February	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6
March	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8
April	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0
May	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1
June	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0
July	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9
August	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9
September	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9
October	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1
November	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6
December	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6

The November 2018 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area is scheduled to be released on December 12, 2018.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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-Long Beach-Anaheim. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles and Orange 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-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Aug. 2018	Sep. 2018	Oct. 2018	Oct. 2017	Aug. 2018	Sep. 2018
Expenditure category
All items	266.665	268.032	269.482	4.1	1.1	0.5
All items (1967=100)	787.846	791.885	796.171	-	-	-
Food and beverages	259.946	259.086	259.845	1.5	0.0	0.3
Food	260.378	259.224	260.141	1.6	-0.1	0.4
Food at home	254.722	252.074	253.400	0.1	-0.5	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	261.956	258.513	263.985	-	0.8	2.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	280.619	275.440	275.054	-	-2.0	-0.1
Dairy and related products	241.160	236.652	238.808	-	-1.0	0.9
Fruits and vegetables	341.279	342.875	337.874	-	-1.0	-1.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	265.345	258.852	263.469	-	-0.7	1.8
Other food at home	196.676	196.376	199.013	-	1.2	1.3
Food away from home	262.795	263.212	263.691	3.0	0.3	0.2
Food away from home	262.795	263.212	263.691	3.0	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	238.324	241.451	240.045	0.6	0.7	-0.6
Housing	303.851	305.084	306.063	4.7	0.7	0.3
Shelter	349.244	351.857	351.784	4.8	0.7	0.0
Rent of primary residence(2)	367.350	368.921	370.737	4.9	0.9	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	362.709	364.493	365.443	5.1	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	362.689	364.472	365.422	5.1	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities	338.180	318.091	326.495	4.7	-3.5	2.6
Household energy	295.766	270.285	280.866	3.9	-5.0	3.9
Energy services(2)	294.652	269.007	279.592	3.9	-5.1	3.9
Electricity(2)	316.423	296.112	320.656	4.9	1.3	8.3
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	288.393	248.728	232.536	0.4	-19.4	-6.5
Household furnishings and operations	115.982	118.629	120.942	4.2	4.3	1.9
Apparel	107.594	111.272	112.145	3.7	4.2	0.8
Transportation	213.054	213.810	217.768	9.0	2.2	1.9
Private transportation	210.297	211.703	215.172	9.9	2.3	1.6
New and used motor vehicles(4)	92.075	90.508	90.874	-	-1.3	0.4
New vehicles(1)	168.744	167.570	167.896	-	-0.5	0.2
Used cars and trucks(1)	272.547	261.108	263.185	-	-3.4	0.8
Motor fuel	279.252	284.090	297.004	26.3	6.4	4.5
Gasoline (all types)	272.792	277.522	290.160	26.3	6.4	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	273.460	278.264	291.076	26.6	6.4	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	261.950	266.288	278.089	25.2	6.2	4.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	259.618	263.818	275.134	24.6	6.0	4.3
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	758.909	782.725	782.657	-	3.1	0.0
Medical care	468.339	469.547	472.920	-0.7	1.0	0.7
Recreation(6)	106.369	107.373	108.158	-0.1	1.7	0.7
Education and communication(6)	146.413	148.874	148.240	2.5	1.2	-0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,850.794	1,907.451	1,908.743	-	3.1	0.1
Other goods and services	427.913	430.392	430.469	3.7	0.6	0.0
Commodity and service group
All items	266.665	268.032	269.482	4.1	1.1	0.5
Commodities	181.490	182.161	184.328	4.0	1.6	1.2
Commodities less food & beverages	140.178	141.385	143.946	5.8	2.7	1.8
Nondurables less food & beverages	191.489	194.276	198.329	10.1	3.6	2.1
Durables	90.777	90.609	91.804	-1.1	1.1	1.3
Services	342.481	344.466	345.289	4.1	0.8	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	257.804	259.171	260.542	4.4	1.1	0.5
All items less shelter	230.417	231.225	233.375	3.6	1.3	0.9
Commodities less food	144.508	145.780	148.270	5.6	2.6	1.7
Nondurables	227.307	228.489	231.127	5.5	1.7	1.2
Nondurables less food	196.654	199.497	203.309	9.4	3.4	1.9
Services less rent of shelter(3)	342.052	343.165	345.308	3.2	1.0	0.6
Services less medical care services	331.367	333.230	333.958	4.6	0.8	0.2
Energy	287.009	281.307	293.500	17.6	2.3	4.3
All items less energy	267.425	269.273	270.021	3.2	1.0	0.3
All items less food and energy	268.939	271.259	271.982	3.5	1.1	0.3
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.