Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.5 percent for the two months ending in December 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the December decrease was influenced by lower prices for 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 advanced 2.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent over the year. Food prices rose 3.2 percent. Energy prices advanced 1.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.6 percent for the two months ending in December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent, and prices for food away from home moved down 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.2 percent. Prices for food away from home rose advanced 4.9 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 1.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 9.2 percent for the two months ending in December. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-13.0 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service prices dropped 10.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 1.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (6.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 7.2 percent, but prices for gasoline decreased 1.2 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 the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (1.8 percent) and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-6.4 percent) and other goods and services (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (3.9 percent) and shelter (3.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-4.0 percent) and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	1.0	2.5	0.9	3.0	0.8	3.4	1.4	3.6	0.5	3.5
April	1.1	2.4	0.7	2.7	1.1	3.8	0.8	3.2	1.2	4.0
June	0.6	2.3	0.6	2.7	0.3	3.5	0.9	3.9	0.2	3.2
August	0.3	2.6	0.7	3.1	0.2	3.0	0.6	4.3	0.1	2.7
October	0.4	2.6	0.9	3.6	0.6	2.7	0.7	4.4	1.0	3.0
December	-0.3	3.2	-0.3	3.5	-0.1	2.9	0.1	4.5	-0.5	2.5

The February 2020 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on March 11, 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 94 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 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo 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

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019
Expenditure category
All items	298.443	-	297.007	2.5	-0.5	-
All items (1967=100)	917.497	-	913.082	-	-	-
Food and beverages	292.658	-	291.161	2.3	-0.5	-
Food	291.434	-	289.795	3.2	-0.6	-
Food at home	256.853	253.976	255.160	1.0	-0.7	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	264.788	-	261.685	0.8	-1.2	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	254.853	-	257.727	2.0	1.1	-
Dairy and related products	273.959	-	272.909	1.8	-0.4	-
Fruits and vegetables	347.437	-	339.390	1.8	-2.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	204.359	-	208.244	1.9	1.9	-
Other food at home	218.764	-	215.083	-1.1	-1.7	-
Food away from home	331.348	-	329.746	4.9	-0.5	-
Food away from home	331.348	-	329.746	4.9	-0.5	-
Alcoholic beverages	311.552	-	311.197	-4.3	-0.1	-
Housing	350.894	-	352.601	3.2	0.5	-
Shelter	400.713	402.623	403.366	3.1	0.7	0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)	458.237	459.553	465.399	3.8	1.6	1.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	429.514	430.686	431.525	2.8	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	429.514	430.686	431.525	2.8	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities	428.389	-	421.094	7.9	-1.7	-
Household energy	371.547	358.703	361.199	6.9	-2.8	0.7
Energy services(2)	372.305	359.672	362.411	7.0	-2.7	0.8
Electricity(2)	394.942	394.942	394.942	6.9	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	310.997	269.240	278.293	7.2	-10.5	3.4
Household furnishings and operations	140.320	-	140.571	1.3	0.2	-
Apparel	112.876	-	105.638	-4.0	-6.4	-
Transportation	216.519	-	205.815	2.0	-4.9	-
Private transportation	209.962	-	200.558	1.5	-4.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)	95.983	-	94.248	-1.1	-1.8	-
New vehicles(1)	160.445	-	157.614	-2.5	-1.8	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	249.664	-	247.540	-1.3	-0.9	-
Motor fuel	300.258	286.954	261.728	-1.2	-12.8	-8.8
Gasoline (all types)	299.473	285.986	260.603	-1.2	-13.0	-8.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	299.983	286.115	260.154	-1.4	-13.3	-9.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	278.220	268.738	246.885	-0.3	-11.3	-8.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	281.934	270.268	248.322	-0.6	-11.9	-8.1
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	531.180	-	534.852	3.6	0.7	-
Medical care	551.902	-	554.645	2.8	0.5	-
Recreation(6)	118.162	-	120.285	3.9	1.8	-
Education and communication(6)	150.244	-	150.738	-0.4	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,831.965	-	1,832.700	0.0	0.0	-
Other goods and services	506.865	-	502.634	1.4	-0.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items	298.443	-	297.007	2.5	-0.5	-
Commodities	196.917	-	191.711	0.0	-2.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	145.602	-	138.789	-2.1	-4.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	195.831	-	183.571	-1.8	-6.3	-
Durables	97.520	-	95.685	-2.5	-1.9	-
Services	382.952	-	384.554	3.5	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	288.121	-	286.521	2.4	-0.6	-
All items less shelter	256.229	-	252.809	2.0	-1.3	-
Commodities less food	152.586	-	146.124	-2.3	-4.2	-
Nondurables	245.584	-	238.667	0.6	-2.8	-
Nondurables less food	204.513	-	193.523	-2.2	-5.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)	377.573	-	377.741	4.0	0.0	-
Services less medical care services	372.051	-	373.552	3.5	0.4	-
Energy	333.744	320.118	302.900	1.8	-9.2	-5.4
All items less energy	300.372	-	300.324	2.5	0.0	-
All items less food and energy	302.596	-	302.804	2.4	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.