Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and shelter. (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 1.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent over the year. Food prices rose 4.8 percent. Energy prices dropped 11.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched down 0.1 percent for the month of June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.6 percent, but prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.8 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 5.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 4.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 3.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (6.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 1.5 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices dropped 11.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-21.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 16.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 4.8 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 June. Higher prices for alcoholic beverages (6.0 percent), other goods and services (2.6 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.2 percent), medical care (-0.8 percent), and education and communication (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (4.7 percent) and shelter (3.0 percent). Partly offsetting these increases were price decreases in apparel (-3.4 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-2.4 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	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1
February	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4
March	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9
April	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7
May	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9
June	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4
July	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3
August	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0
September	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0
October	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2
November	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2
December	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0

The July 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on August 12, 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 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-
	Apr. 2020	May 2020	Jun. 2020	Jun. 2019	Apr. 2020	May 2020
Expenditure category
All items	275.853	276.842	278.121	1.4	0.8	0.5
All items (1967=100)	814.991	817.913	821.692	-	-	-
Food and beverages	276.101	278.810	279.880	5.4	1.4	0.4
Food	276.185	279.152	278.999	4.8	1.0	-0.1
Food at home	262.351	267.566	265.933	4.2	1.4	-0.6
Cereals and bakery products	284.534	282.739	279.137	2.0	-1.9	-1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	288.203	306.865	304.442	10.1	5.6	-0.8
Dairy and related products	260.443	263.686	254.502	2.9	-2.3	-3.5
Fruits and vegetables	348.901	347.840	355.139	3.2	1.8	2.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	267.840	271.735	271.228	5.7	1.3	-0.2
Other food at home	196.149	199.090	196.604	0.2	0.2	-1.2
Food away from home	286.872	287.618	288.908	5.3	0.7	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	255.200	254.708	269.985	12.7	5.8	6.0
Housing	322.624	324.152	324.922	2.8	0.7	0.2
Shelter	373.697	374.276	375.172	3.0	0.4	0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)	398.555	399.259	399.973	4.0	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	389.571	390.476	391.458	3.5	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	389.549	390.454	391.436	3.5	0.5	0.3
Fuels and utilities	332.824	349.707	349.898	5.7	5.1	0.1
Household energy	285.806	306.992	307.227	7.7	7.5	0.1
Energy services(2)	284.472	305.686	305.967	7.8	7.6	0.1
Electricity(2)	332.952	345.607	344.110	4.8	3.4	-0.4
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	223.100	264.700	268.666	16.5	20.4	1.5
Household furnishings and operations	121.095	120.960	121.428	-1.1	0.3	0.4
Apparel	103.359	103.244	104.058	-3.4	0.7	0.8
Transportation	196.441	194.270	199.707	-8.8	1.7	2.8
Private transportation	195.216	192.695	198.058	-7.9	1.5	2.8
New and used motor vehicles(4)	90.854	90.029	89.615	-2.4	-1.4	-0.5
New vehicles(1)	170.766	172.184	171.152	0.4	0.2	-0.6
Used cars and trucks(1)	266.420	264.445	261.205	-3.2	-2.0	-1.2
Motor fuel	222.500	215.604	228.537	-21.0	2.7	6.0
Gasoline (all types)	217.188	210.463	223.166	-21.1	2.8	6.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	216.272	209.198	222.328	-21.4	2.8	6.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	213.621	205.559	215.821	-20.8	1.0	5.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	212.267	207.318	218.181	-19.0	2.8	5.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	679.162	679.162	768.278	-0.8	13.1	13.1
Medical care	499.720	511.177	506.888	4.7	1.4	-0.8
Recreation(6)	108.317	107.591	106.313	1.7	-1.9	-1.2
Education and communication(6)	149.159	149.334	148.297	0.4	-0.6	-0.7
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,963.667	1,968.023	1,969.840	2.8	0.3	0.1
Other goods and services	450.417	449.121	460.930	4.7	2.3	2.6
Commodity and service group
All items	275.853	276.842	278.121	1.4	0.8	0.5
Commodities	180.993	181.378	182.603	-1.3	0.9	0.7
Commodities less food & beverages	132.570	131.888	133.148	-6.7	0.4	1.0
Nondurables less food & beverages	176.017	174.971	177.915	-8.4	1.1	1.7
Durables	89.794	89.441	89.304	-4.1	-0.5	-0.2
Services	360.450	362.004	363.293	2.7	0.8	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	266.142	266.754	268.222	1.2	0.8	0.6
All items less shelter	232.812	233.970	235.405	0.2	1.1	0.6
Commodities less food	137.783	137.103	138.862	-5.6	0.8	1.3
Nondurables	227.215	228.048	230.067	-0.6	1.3	0.9
Nondurables less food	183.606	182.591	186.476	-6.4	1.6	2.1
Services less rent of shelter(3)	350.960	353.953	355.848	2.2	1.4	0.5
Services less medical care services	347.441	348.431	349.903	2.3	0.7	0.4
Energy	246.634	249.692	258.193	-11.0	4.7	3.4
All items less energy	280.000	280.859	281.664	2.2	0.6	0.3
All items less food and energy	280.885	281.340	282.329	1.8	0.5	0.4
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.