Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.1 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the February 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 increased 2.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices declined 0.4 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for both food at home and food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.3 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.5 percent since a year ago, while prices for food at home were virtually unchanged.

Energy

The energy index crept up 0.1 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.1 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service declined 5.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 0.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 9.7 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 1.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent in February. Higher prices for other goods and services (0.6 percent) and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.7 percent) and apparel (-1.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.1 percent) and education and communication (1.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in apparel (-3.8 percent) and recreation (-2.0 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2
February	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5
March	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8
April	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0
May	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1
June	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0
July	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9
August	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9
September	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9
October	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1
November	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6
December	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2

The March 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2019.

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-
	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019	Feb. 2019	Feb. 2018	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	267.631	269.468	269.608	2.5	0.7	0.1
All items (1967=100)	790.700	796.129	796.542	-	-	-
Food and beverages	261.875	263.128	263.133	2.2	0.5	0.0
Food	262.476	263.610	263.672	2.3	0.5	0.0
Food at home	254.461	253.860	253.890	0.1	-0.2	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	267.239	266.787	265.333	2.7	-0.7	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	280.729	273.811	276.038	1.2	-1.7	0.8
Dairy and related products	242.143	241.170	246.272	2.3	1.7	2.1
Fruits and vegetables	336.731	339.832	333.006	-4.0	-1.1	-2.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	260.932	265.622	270.972	5.6	3.8	2.0
Other food at home	197.268	197.640	195.949	-2.9	-0.7	-0.9
Food away from home	267.322	270.248	270.343	4.5	1.1	0.0
Food away from home	267.322	270.248	270.343	4.5	1.1	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	237.875	240.653	239.892	1.6	0.8	-0.3
Housing	306.739	309.193	309.497	4.6	0.9	0.1
Shelter	353.056	355.952	356.982	5.1	1.1	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)	374.865	375.935	377.425	5.5	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	367.831	369.294	371.743	5.2	1.1	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	367.809	369.273	371.721	5.2	1.1	0.7
Fuels and utilities	329.083	328.241	325.201	2.8	-1.2	-0.9
Household energy	284.067	282.486	278.269	3.3	-2.0	-1.5
Energy services(2)	282.974	281.164	276.771	3.3	-2.2	-1.6
Electricity(2)	319.592	317.874	317.998	1.1	-0.5	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	245.309	243.082	229.026	9.7	-6.6	-5.8
Household furnishings and operations	118.987	120.705	119.497	1.5	0.4	-1.0
Apparel	103.518	108.962	107.306	-3.8	3.7	-1.5
Transportation	209.970	209.141	210.461	-0.1	0.2	0.6
Private transportation	208.021	206.710	207.378	0.3	-0.3	0.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	91.518	92.091	91.772	-1.0	0.3	-0.3
New vehicles(1)	170.223	171.896	170.073	-0.1	-0.1	-1.1
Used cars and trucks(1)	266.041	267.062	267.527	0.5	0.6	0.2
Motor fuel	264.008	253.550	256.316	-2.5	-2.9	1.1
Gasoline (all types)	257.773	247.517	250.262	-2.5	-2.9	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	258.279	247.851	250.628	-2.6	-3.0	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	248.378	238.913	241.180	-2.2	-2.9	0.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	245.834	236.805	239.351	-2.4	-2.6	1.1
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	774.857	774.857	774.857	3.6	0.0	0.0
Medical care	474.709	481.041	482.174	1.5	1.6	0.2
Recreation(6)	107.717	107.787	105.914	-2.0	-1.7	-1.7
Education and communication(6)	146.245	146.179	146.560	1.6	0.2	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,893.973	1,893.973	1,893.391	6.6	0.0	0.0
Other goods and services	429.497	432.648	435.395	2.1	1.4	0.6
Commodity and service group
All items	267.631	269.468	269.608	2.5	0.7	0.1
Commodities	180.223	181.312	180.663	0.0	0.2	-0.4
Commodities less food & beverages	137.783	138.740	137.885	-1.6	0.1	-0.6
Nondurables less food & beverages	185.434	186.137	184.882	-2.3	-0.3	-0.7
Durables	91.550	92.675	92.194	-0.5	0.7	-0.5
Services	345.417	347.919	348.755	3.7	1.0	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	258.561	260.220	260.322	2.6	0.7	0.0
All items less shelter	230.095	231.460	231.196	0.8	0.5	-0.1
Commodities less food	142.134	143.151	142.287	-1.5	0.1	-0.6
Nondurables	224.768	225.740	225.033	0.1	0.1	-0.3
Nondurables less food	190.821	191.646	190.401	-2.0	-0.2	-0.6
Services less rent of shelter(3)	343.732	345.710	346.278	1.7	0.7	0.2
Services less medical care services	333.981	336.054	336.890	3.9	0.9	0.2
Energy	272.892	265.455	265.805	-0.4	-2.6	0.1
All items less energy	269.401	271.869	271.996	2.7	1.0	0.0
All items less food and energy	270.898	273.579	273.716	2.8	1.0	0.1
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.