Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The January increase was influenced by higher prices for 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 rose 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent over the year. Energy prices rose 6.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 2.2 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.5 percent for the month of January. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 0.8 percent, and prices for food at home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.2 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 4.0 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 3.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 2.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 6.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (7.7 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 3.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 3.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in January. Higher prices for apparel (1.8 percent), medical care (0.6 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (6.3 percent) and shelter (4.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in new and used motor vehicles (-1.3 percent).

Table A. West region 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	0.5	2.6	0.5	2.5	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9
February	0.1	2.1	0.6	3.0	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.4
March	0.2	1.5	0.3	3.1	0.4	3.2	0.4	2.4
April	0.5	1.8	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.2	0.8	2.9
May	0.5	1.5	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.9
June	0.2	1.6	0.0	2.5	0.2	3.6	0.0	2.7
July	0.1	1.4	0.1	2.5	0.1	3.6	0.0	2.7
August	0.0	1.5	0.2	2.7	0.2	3.6	0.1	2.6
September	0.3	2.0	0.5	2.9	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6
October	0.3	2.3	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8
November	-0.2	2.3	0.0	3.1	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8
December	0.0	2.5	0.1	3.1	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8

The February 2020 Consumer Price Index for the West Region 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 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019	Jan. 2020	Jan. 2019	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	273.128	272.584	273.340	2.9	0.1	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	441.496	440.616	441.839
Food and beverages	266.850	267.096	268.585	2.0	0.7	0.6
Food	267.107	267.425	268.822	2.2	0.6	0.5
Food at home	250.350	250.222	250.901	0.6	0.2	0.3
Cereals and bakery products	266.219	262.004	262.896	0.1	-1.2	0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	259.911	260.400	260.270	1.1	0.1	0.0
Dairy and related products	233.698	236.295	239.091	4.6	2.3	1.2
Fruits and vegetables	330.634	331.526	334.287	-0.1	1.1	0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	174.995	174.619	176.334	0.6	0.8	1.0
Other food at home	211.908	211.683	210.466	-0.5	-0.7	-0.6
Food away from home	288.878	289.770	292.149	4.0	1.1	0.8
Alcoholic beverages	260.173	259.502	262.106	-0.7	0.7	1.0
Housing	301.908	302.112	303.450	3.7	0.5	0.4
Shelter	350.397	350.777	351.875	4.1	0.4	0.3
Rent of primary residence(1)	373.143	374.382	375.390	4.6	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	368.433	369.702	370.471	4.2	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	368.436	369.707	370.477	4.2	0.6	0.2
Fuels and utilities	305.066	304.982	309.674	3.3	1.5	1.5
Household energy	254.427	254.281	260.234	3.2	2.3	2.3
Energy services(1)	256.323	256.032	262.095	3.2	2.3	2.4
Electricity(1)	290.952	287.434	293.364	3.2	0.8	2.1
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	188.520	196.879	203.788	3.0	8.1	3.5
Household furnishings and operations	132.061	131.794	132.534	0.3	0.4	0.6
Apparel	114.668	113.210	115.274	0.3	0.5	1.8
Transportation	223.156	218.713	216.625	1.8	-2.9	-1.0
Private transportation	218.956	214.895	212.347	1.8	-3.0	-1.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)	99.531	99.488	99.158	-1.3	-0.4	-0.3
New vehicles	147.579	147.969	148.092	0.0	0.3	0.1
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	102.480	102.754	102.862	0.0	0.4	0.1
New cars(4)	146.222	146.602	146.986	1.0	0.5	0.3
Used cars and trucks	132.086	131.779	130.773	-2.1	-1.0	-0.8
Motor fuel	285.613	268.140	258.303	7.6	-9.6	-3.7
Gasoline (all types)	284.666	266.882	256.949	7.7	-9.7	-3.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	281.564	263.581	253.570	7.7	-9.9	-3.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	271.444	256.745	248.008	7.8	-8.6	-3.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	278.300	262.545	253.638	7.8	-8.9	-3.4
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	843.534	843.608	839.206	-1.8	-0.5	-0.5
Medical Care	523.141	530.506	533.905	6.3	2.1	0.6
Medical care commodities	413.647	434.657	433.200	12.8	4.7	-0.3
Medical care services	557.317	559.982	564.908	4.7	1.4	0.9
Professional services	359.655	359.697	361.014	1.3	0.4	0.4
Recreation(3)	115.738	116.187	116.687	1.1	0.8	0.4
Education and communication(3)	138.301	137.914	137.876	0.8	-0.3	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,495.444	1,494.758	1,496.746	2.5	0.1	0.1
Other goods and services	455.293	453.836	456.835	3.4	0.3	0.7
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	273.128	272.584	273.340	2.9	0.1	0.3
Commodities	189.091	187.603	187.697	2.1	-0.7	0.1
Commodities less food & beverages	150.430	148.369	147.931	2.1	-1.7	-0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	200.892	197.070	196.060	4.3	-2.4	-0.5
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	261.450	255.951	252.841	5.8	-3.3	-1.2
Durables	105.618	104.983	104.934	-0.9	-0.6	0.0
Services	351.264	351.706	353.146	3.4	0.5	0.4
Rent of shelter(2)	373.174	373.602	374.781	4.1	0.4	0.3
Transportation services	321.138	318.458	318.559	0.0	-0.8	0.0
Other services	360.878	362.528	363.514	2.1	0.7	0.3
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	261.724	260.842	261.485	2.6	-0.1	0.2
All items less food	274.249	273.570	274.222	3.0	0.0	0.2
All items less shelter	242.821	241.905	242.528	2.2	-0.1	0.3
Commodities less food	154.565	152.523	152.166	2.0	-1.6	-0.2
Nondurables	234.306	232.319	232.523	3.1	-0.8	0.1
Nondurables less food	205.518	201.855	201.080	4.0	-2.2	-0.4
Nondurables less food and apparel	261.017	255.981	253.480	5.1	-2.9	-1.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)	362.722	363.231	365.163	2.4	0.7	0.5
Services less medical care services	336.873	337.168	338.373	3.2	0.4	0.4
Energy	277.542	266.687	263.417	6.0	-5.1	-1.2
All items less energy	275.079	275.280	276.317	2.7	0.5	0.4
All items less food and energy	277.277	277.459	278.434	2.8	0.4	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities	140.062	139.819	140.403	0.7	0.2	0.4
Energy commodities	290.390	272.955	263.135	7.5	-9.4	-3.6
Services less energy services	358.093	358.577	359.762	3.4	0.5	0.3
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.