Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in September 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 3.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.2 percent over the year. Food prices advanced 2.5 percent. Energy prices rose 3.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.7 percent for the two months ending in September. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home increased 1.1 percent, and prices for food at home inched up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.9 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home edged up 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.9 percent for the two months ending in September. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-3.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 1.7 percent, while prices for gasoline were virtually unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices rose 3.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (2.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 6.5 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 1.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (5.3 percent) and shelter (0.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.5 percent) and other goods and services (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.9 percent) and medical care (4.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in new and used vehicles (-2.0 percent) and recreation (-1.6 percent).

The November 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on December 11, 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 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Riverside and San Bernardino 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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jul. 2019	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019	Sep. 2018	Jul. 2019	Aug. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	105.816	-	106.412	3.1	0.6	-
Food and beverages	103.941	-	104.565	2.4	0.6	-
Food	104.110	-	104.819	2.5	0.7	-
Food at home	101.244	100.711	101.440	0.2	0.2	0.7
Cereals and bakery products	104.160	-	104.417	-0.3	0.2	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	99.090	-	101.027	-0.5	2.0	-
Dairy and related products	101.720	-	100.287	-2.3	-1.4	-
Fruits and vegetables	100.899	-	101.854	2.3	0.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	106.864	-	106.858	2.8	0.0	-
Other food at home	99.291	-	98.057	-0.5	-1.2	-
Food away from home	107.013	-	108.242	4.9	1.1	-
Food away from home	107.013	-	108.242	4.9	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	101.082	-	100.275	-0.7	-0.8	-
Housing	106.527	-	107.048	4.6	0.5	-
Shelter	107.354	107.640	108.236	4.9	0.8	0.6
Rent of primary residence	106.753	107.035	107.864	4.7	1.0	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	107.627	107.920	108.330	5.2	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	107.627	107.920	108.330	5.2	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	104.852	-	103.093	4.8	-1.7	-
Household energy	100.097	97.511	97.338	4.1	-2.8	-0.2
Energy services	100.191	97.614	97.393	4.4	-2.8	-0.2
Electricity	95.590	92.582	92.563	6.5	-3.2	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	116.109	115.025	114.107	-1.2	-1.7	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations	100.647	-	100.572	0.8	-0.1	-
Apparel	101.186	-	106.510	1.7	5.3	-
Transportation	108.664	-	108.799	1.3	0.1	-
Private transportation	108.785	-	108.647	1.0	-0.1	-
New and used motor vehicles	100.963	-	99.454	-2.0	-1.5	-
New vehicles	100.553	-	100.417	-1.1	-0.1	-
Used cars and trucks	104.139	-	101.173	1.7	-2.8	-
Motor fuel	120.735	116.093	120.653	2.7	-0.1	3.9
Gasoline (all types)	120.868	116.190	120.785	2.8	-0.1	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)	121.129	116.337	121.008	2.7	-0.1	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)	120.917	116.511	120.741	3.5	-0.1	3.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)	119.420	115.281	119.545	3.0	0.1	3.7
Motor vehicle insurance	110.121	-	110.121	0.4	0.0	-
Medical care	103.777	-	104.586	4.6	0.8	-
Recreation	100.590	-	101.354	-1.6	0.8	-
Education and communication	105.592	-	105.604	2.8	0.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	112.161	-	114.277	5.3	1.9	-
Other goods and services	105.894	-	105.500	2.1	-0.4	-
Commodity and service group
All items	105.816	-	106.412	3.1	0.6	-
Commodities	104.892	-	105.489	1.6	0.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	105.529	-	106.107	1.0	0.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	107.950	-	108.946	1.0	0.9	-
Durables	102.044	-	102.020	1.1	0.0	-
Services	106.384	-	106.981	4.0	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	105.958	-	106.540	3.0	0.5	-
All items less shelter	104.955	-	105.392	2.0	0.4	-
Commodities less food	105.369	-	105.897	1.0	0.5	-
Nondurables	105.820	-	106.618	1.7	0.8	-
Nondurables less food	107.541	-	108.430	0.9	0.8	-
Services less rent of shelter	105.064	-	105.259	2.7	0.2	-
Services less medical care services	106.494	-	107.068	3.9	0.5	-
Energy	113.202	109.311	112.143	3.1	-0.9	2.6
All items less energy	105.153	-	105.898	3.1	0.7	-
All items less food and energy	105.347	-	106.099	3.2	0.7	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.