Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.1 percent for the two months ending in May 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the May increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. (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 3.8 percent. Food prices rose 1.2 percent. Energy prices jumped 19.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. Food prices rose 1.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.7 percent for the two months ending in May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 2.1 percent, strongly influenced by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.3 percent) and fruits and vegetables (4.1 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 1.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.2 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.0 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 1.0 percent, mainly due to lower prices for other food at home (-9.1 percent) since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 6.0 percent for the two months ending in May. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (8.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 4.1 percent, and prices for electricity rose 3.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 19.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (34.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 25.8 percent, and prices for electricity rose 2.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used vehicles (7.2 percent), shelter (2.4 percent), and apparel (2.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (12.9 percent), education and communication (4.1 percent), and shelter (2.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-1.0 percent).

The July 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on August 11, 2021.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 6,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	May 2021	May 2020	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021
Expenditure category
All items	290.361	-	296.559	3.8	2.1	-
All items (1967=100)	799.356	-	816.420	-	-	-
Food and beverages	305.943	-	310.456	1.4	1.5	-
Food	305.693	-	310.828	1.2	1.7	-
Food at home	299.249	305.586	305.642	-1.0	2.1	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	319.691	-	332.121	1.6	3.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	289.527	-	301.948	3.9	4.3	-
Dairy and related products	241.718	-	250.028	2.5	3.4	-
Fruits and vegetables	356.894	-	371.481	-0.7	4.1	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	381.655	-	395.671	3.7	3.7	-
Other food at home	291.271	-	283.043	-9.1	-2.8	-
Food away from home	305.053	-	308.513	4.0	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	308.449	-	302.833	-	-1.8	-
Housing	317.531	-	324.024	2.7	2.0	-
Shelter	347.702	353.660	355.946	2.9	2.4	0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)	342.083	347.626	351.778	2.7	2.8	1.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	358.149	362.789	364.535	2.7	1.8	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	358.149	362.789	364.535	2.7	1.8	0.5
Fuels and utilities	363.222	-	369.720	2.6	1.8	-
Household energy	277.935	276.046	286.611	3.6	3.1	3.8
Energy services	272.857	270.994	281.441	3.5	3.1	3.9
Electricity	269.116	265.543	277.456	2.6	3.1	4.5
Utility (piped) gas service	300.916	338.972	313.297	25.8	4.1	-7.6
Household furnishings and operations	153.185	-	150.596	0.2	-1.7	-
Apparel	107.130	-	109.745	-1.0	2.4	-
Transportation	223.900	-	238.625	15.7	6.6	-
Private transportation	229.057	-	242.145	16.1	5.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	106.499	-	114.147	12.9	7.2	-
New vehicles(1)	166.537	-	170.835	3.6	2.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	263.772	-	307.585	29.2	16.6	-
Motor fuel	279.255	293.126	302.602	34.6	8.4	3.2
Gasoline (all types)	286.628	300.891	310.663	34.7	8.4	3.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	296.969	310.847	321.444	34.5	8.2	3.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	235.672	248.602	259.363	23.8	10.1	4.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	271.431	288.314	295.261	37.4	8.8	2.4
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	442.557	-	442.557	6.0	0.0	-
Medical care	-	-	434.559	-	-	-
Recreation(3)	135.445	-	137.828	0.5	1.8	-
Education and communication(3)	150.642	-	151.069	4.1	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,841.568	-	1,841.568	2.2	0.0	-
Other goods and services	519.226	-	521.144	8.2	0.4	-
Commodity and service group
All items	290.361	-	296.559	3.8	2.1	-
Commodities	213.095	-	218.733	4.8	2.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	157.342	-	163.467	8.6	3.9	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	197.525	-	204.463	9.7	3.5	-
Durables	113.053	-	118.028	7.1	4.4	-
Services	357.807	-	364.520	3.2	1.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	282.459	-	289.079	4.0	2.3	-
All items less shelter	265.247	-	270.469	4.3	2.0	-
Commodities less food	162.663	-	168.450	8.3	3.6	-
Nondurables	254.226	-	259.785	4.2	2.2	-
Nondurables less food	204.506	-	210.617	9.3	3.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	367.962	-	371.856	3.7	1.1	-
Services less medical care services	348.808	-	356.262	3.4	2.1	-
Energy	276.802	283.568	293.466	19.1	6.0	3.5
All items less energy	293.011	-	298.611	3.0	1.9	-
All items less food and energy	292.473	-	298.203	3.3	2.0	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (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.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.