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News Release Information

21-1855-SAN
Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, Honolulu Area — September 2021

Area prices were up 1.0 percent over the past two months, up 5.0 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in September 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for food and shelter. (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 5.0 percent. Food prices increased 2.5 percent. Energy prices jumped 28.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 2.7 percent for the two months ending in September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 3.9 percent, mainly due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (8.4 percent).  Prices for food away from home rose 1.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 3.9 percent since a year ago, largely due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (16.3 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 0.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in September. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-1.1 percent). Prices for gasoline were unchanged, while prices for natural gas service advanced 2.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 28.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (37.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 23.0 percent, and prices for electricity moved up 18.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (8.2 percent), motor vehicle insurance (5.9 percent), and shelter (0.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (23.3 percent), recreation (7.0 percent), and shelter (4.5 percent).  Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-1.4 percent) and medical care (-0.1 percent).

The November 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on December 10, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on September 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in September was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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

IndexesPercent change from-
Historical
data
Jul.
2021
Aug.
2021
Sep.
2021
Sep.
2020
Jul.
2021
Aug.
2021

Expenditure category

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0
298.820-301.8915.01.0-

All items (1967=100)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FAA0
822.644-831.099---

Food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF
311.008-319.2022.62.6-

Food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF1
311.361-319.8692.52.7-

Food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF11
306.351313.780318.2463.93.91.4

Cereals and bakery products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF111
342.323-339.0343.5-1.0-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF112
302.893-328.39716.38.4-

Dairy and related products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEFJ
248.606-244.655-3.7-1.6-

Fruits and vegetables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF113
371.381-377.208-4.61.6-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF114
392.537-421.18213.37.3-

Other food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF115
282.506-292.764-1.33.6-

Food away from home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEFV
308.816-312.9630.91.3-

Alcoholic beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAF116
303.685-306.740-1.0-

Housing

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAH
326.578-328.8134.80.7-

Shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAH1
356.843358.188360.1694.50.90.6

Rent of primary residence(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHA
349.223349.384349.5012.20.10.0

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHC
364.298364.374363.6062.7-0.2-0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHC01
364.298364.374363.6062.7-0.2-0.2

Fuels and utilities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAH2
389.811-388.00211.2-0.5-

Household energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAH21
310.136305.973307.32618.6-0.90.4

Energy services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHF
304.572300.420301.61718.5-1.00.4

Electricity

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHF01
300.488295.800297.06018.3-1.10.4

Utility (piped) gas service

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEHF02
333.757342.891342.35623.02.6-0.2

Household furnishings and operations

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAH3
152.882-151.5211.4-0.9-

Apparel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAA
104.602-113.203-1.48.2-

Transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAT
244.791-241.79215.1-1.2-

Private transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAT1
250.357-250.51317.50.1-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETA
------

New vehicles(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETA01
------

Used cars and trucks(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETA02
340.915-322.53523.3-5.4-

Motor fuel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETB
318.815320.103318.89937.00.0-0.4

Gasoline (all types)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETB01
327.284328.609327.35937.10.0-0.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSS47014
338.744340.080338.75437.50.0-0.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSS47015
273.195274.438273.41328.50.1-0.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSS47016
310.696312.065310.99036.50.1-0.3

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSETE
442.557-468.6898.75.9-

Medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAM
434.814-438.429-0.10.8-

Recreation(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAR
140.837-143.9417.02.2-

Education and communication(3)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAE
151.489-151.8351.80.2-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSEEB
1,850.564-1,871.8403.41.1-

Other goods and services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAG
--534.9005.7--

Commodity and service group

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0
298.820-301.8915.01.0-

Commodities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAC
221.316-225.7326.02.0-

Commodities less food & beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSACL11
167.102-169.3489.91.3-

Nondurables less food & beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSANL11
209.041-212.74511.11.8-

Durables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAD
120.629-121.5678.20.8-

Services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAS
366.522-368.4704.50.5-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0L5
291.428-294.4645.41.0-

All items less shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0L2
273.502-276.4955.41.1-

Commodities less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSACL1
172.014-174.2949.51.3-

Nondurables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSAN
262.141-268.2375.52.3-

Nondurables less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSANL1
214.946-218.60310.31.7-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSASL2RS
375.691-375.2844.4-0.1-

Services less medical care services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSASL5
358.482-360.2734.90.5-

Energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0E
312.824311.678311.61928.3-0.40.0

All items less energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0LE
299.844-303.1953.81.1-

All items less food and energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS49FSA0L1E
299.584-301.9294.10.8-

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2021