Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.1 percent for the two months ending in November 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the November increase was influenced by higher prices for recreation and shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 0.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent over the year. Food prices increased 0.4 percent. Energy prices decreased 5.1 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of electricity. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.8 percent for the two months ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 1.9 percent, but prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.4 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.3 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home declined 1.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.8 percent for the two months ending in November. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-3.2 percent). Prices for gasoline decreased 1.0 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 4.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 5.1 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for electricity (-10.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 5.0 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 0.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (4.6 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (15.1 percent), recreation (3.2 percent) and shelter (2.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent).

The January 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on February 13, 2020.

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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Nov. 2018	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	282.106	-	282.248	0.9	0.1	-
All items (1967=100)	776.631	-	777.022	-	-	-
Food and beverages	288.845	-	287.049	0.5	-0.6	-
Food	289.897	-	287.556	0.4	-0.8	-
Food at home	279.412	279.296	274.175	-1.4	-1.9	-1.8
Cereals and bakery products	320.709	-	304.256	-4.6	-5.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	259.093	-	250.892	-2.8	-3.2	-
Dairy and related products	241.165	-	241.768	8.5	0.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	348.239	-	341.701	-1.1	-1.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	341.022	-	341.918	-0.5	0.3	-
Other food at home	264.782	-	262.080	-2.5	-1.0	-
Food away from home	294.786	-	295.690	2.3	0.3	-
Food away from home	294.786	-	295.690	2.3	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	269.003	-	277.560	3.7	3.2	-
Housing	307.837	-	308.198	1.3	0.1	-
Shelter	335.338	336.325	336.674	2.1	0.4	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	325.470	326.310	326.631	1.7	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	348.983	349.323	350.526	2.2	0.4	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	348.983	349.323	350.526	2.2	0.4	0.3
Fuels and utilities	372.132	-	365.521	-3.8	-1.8	-
Household energy	291.448	288.870	283.298	-10.0	-2.8	-1.9
Energy services	286.291	283.479	278.140	-10.2	-2.8	-1.9
Electricity	283.010	280.329	274.031	-10.4	-3.2	-2.2
Utility (piped) gas service	300.900	295.632	313.929	-5.0	4.3	6.2
Household furnishings and operations	147.081	-	145.976	-0.3	-0.8	-
Apparel	120.772	-	119.317	15.1	-1.2	-
Transportation	225.011	-	222.380	-3.5	-1.2	-
Private transportation	226.093	-	224.121	-1.0	-0.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	-	-	103.222	-1.5	-	-
New vehicles(1)	-	-	165.007	-0.3	-	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	239.382	-	237.279	-1.0	-0.9	-
Motor fuel	273.279	271.492	270.649	-0.9	-1.0	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)	280.439	278.592	277.722	-0.9	-1.0	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	292.672	290.807	289.413	-1.2	-1.1	-0.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	233.225	233.068	233.520	-3.0	0.1	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	256.997	254.863	255.730	1.3	-0.5	0.3
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	481.526	-	477.600	-2.6	-0.8	-
Medical care	-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation(3)	128.248	-	134.203	3.2	4.6	-
Education and communication(3)	143.329	-	143.890	0.0	0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,795.838	-	1,795.838	-	0.0	-
Other goods and services	505.864	-	504.879	1.8	-0.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items	282.106	-	282.248	0.9	0.1	-
Commodities	208.433	-	207.107	1.1	-0.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	159.538	-	158.503	1.6	-0.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	203.476	-	202.934	3.1	-0.3	-
Durables	-	-	110.874	-0.4	-	-
Services	346.445	-	347.838	0.8	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	274.351	-	274.347	0.8	0.0	-
All items less shelter	258.975	-	258.499	0.1	-0.2	-
Commodities less food	163.654	-	162.838	1.7	-0.5	-
Nondurables	247.672	-	246.485	1.6	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food	207.632	-	207.544	3.2	0.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	358.471	-	359.940	-1.1	0.4	-
Services less medical care services	338.225	-	339.529	0.7	0.4	-
Energy	279.287	277.177	274.339	-5.1	-1.8	-1.0
All items less energy	283.972	-	284.475	1.3	0.2	-
All items less food and energy	284.752	-	285.796	1.5	0.4	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes 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.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.