Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), crept up 0.2 percent for the two months ending in November 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the November increase was influenced by higher prices for energy. (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 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 5.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices increased 2.5 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.5 percent for the two months ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home declined 0.9 percent, while prices for food at home were virtually unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.5 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.7 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 1.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 7.6 percent for the two months ending in November. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.8 percent). Prices for electricity jumped 13.8 percent, but prices for natural gas service fell 11.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 5.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (8.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 1.7 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 2.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for apparel (-15.5 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.3 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.4 percent) and medical care (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.0 percent) and medical care (4.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-12.6 percent).

The January 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside 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 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-
	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Nov. 2018	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	106.412	-	106.573	2.9	0.2	-
Food and beverages	104.565	-	103.959	2.3	-0.6	-
Food	104.819	-	104.292	2.5	-0.5	-
Food at home	101.440	100.919	101.386	1.4	-0.1	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	104.417	-	104.712	-0.4	0.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	101.027	-	100.074	3.5	-0.9	-
Dairy and related products	100.287	-	105.255	5.9	5.0	-
Fruits and vegetables	101.854	-	100.967	0.9	-0.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	106.858	-	107.660	5.6	0.8	-
Other food at home	98.057	-	96.851	-3.2	-1.2	-
Food away from home	108.242	-	107.236	3.7	-0.9	-
Food away from home	108.242	-	107.236	3.7	-0.9	-
Alcoholic beverages	100.275	-	98.334	-2.0	-1.9	-
Housing	107.048	-	107.678	4.4	0.6	-
Shelter	108.236	108.591	108.673	5.0	0.4	0.1
Rent of primary residence	107.864	108.353	108.774	4.8	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	108.330	108.616	108.987	5.5	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	108.330	108.616	108.987	5.5	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	103.093	-	107.532	2.7	4.3	-
Household energy	97.338	107.967	104.377	1.0	7.2	-3.3
Energy services	97.393	108.067	104.476	0.8	7.3	-3.3
Electricity	92.563	105.339	105.347	1.7	13.8	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	114.107	117.507	101.460	-2.0	-11.1	-13.7
Household furnishings and operations	100.572	-	98.216	0.6	-2.3	-
Apparel	106.510	-	89.989	-12.6	-15.5	-
Transportation	108.799	-	111.540	2.3	2.5	-
Private transportation	108.647	-	111.855	2.5	3.0	-
New and used motor vehicles	99.454	-	100.146	-2.7	0.7	-
New vehicles	100.417	-	101.539	-0.7	1.1	-
Used cars and trucks	101.173	-	100.284	-1.0	-0.9	-
Motor fuel	120.653	135.853	130.065	8.3	7.8	-4.3
Gasoline (all types)	120.785	136.124	130.261	8.4	7.8	-4.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)	121.008	136.554	130.493	8.4	7.8	-4.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)	120.741	135.307	130.130	7.5	7.8	-3.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)	119.545	133.941	128.984	8.6	7.9	-3.7
Motor vehicle insurance	110.121	-	110.751	0.2	0.6	-
Medical care	104.586	-	104.906	4.1	0.3	-
Recreation	101.354	-	101.749	0.2	0.4	-
Education and communication	105.604	-	104.536	3.0	-1.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	114.277	-	114.587	5.3	0.3	-
Other goods and services	105.500	-	106.336	3.9	0.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items	106.412	-	106.573	2.9	0.2	-
Commodities	105.489	-	104.898	1.0	-0.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	106.107	-	105.527	0.1	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	108.946	-	108.510	0.1	-0.4	-
Durables	102.020	-	101.232	0.1	-0.8	-
Services	106.981	-	107.603	4.0	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	106.540	-	106.689	2.8	0.1	-
All items less shelter	105.392	-	105.397	1.7	0.0	-
Commodities less food	105.897	-	105.267	0.1	-0.6	-
Nondurables	106.618	-	106.092	1.2	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food	108.430	-	107.904	0.0	-0.5	-
Services less rent of shelter	105.259	-	106.127	2.6	0.8	-
Services less medical care services	107.068	-	107.675	3.9	0.6	-
Energy	112.143	125.675	120.690	5.9	7.6	-4.0
All items less energy	105.898	-	105.305	2.6	-0.6	-
All items less food and energy	106.099	-	105.494	2.6	-0.6	-
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.