Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), crept up 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August increase was influenced by higher prices for apparel and food away from home. (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 4.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 4.1 percent. Energy prices jumped 26.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent for the month of August. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.2 percent. Prices for food at home inched down 0.2 percent for the same period, led by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-2.4 percent).

Over the year, food prices rose 4.1 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.2 percent. Prices for food at home rose 3.9 percent since a year ago. All food categories showed similar increases, led by fruits and vegetables which increased 6.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.8 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 1.5 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 26.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (35.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 16.3 percent, and prices for electricity increased 10.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in August. Higher prices for apparel (3.6 percent) and new vehicles (2.3 percent) helped counter lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.4 percent) and shelter (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (14.1 percent), recreation (10.0 percent), and shelter (1.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in education and communication (-2.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.2 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	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1	0.2	0.9
February	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4	0.4	1.0
March	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9	0.5	2.2
April	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7	1.1	3.6
May	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9	0.6	3.9
June	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4	0.6	4.0
July	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3	0.6	1.9	0.6	3.9
August	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0	0.1	2.0	0.2	4.0
September	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0	-0.3	1.2
October	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2	0.2	0.7
November	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2	0.1	1.0
December	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0	-0.2	1.5

The September 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on October 13, 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in 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-
	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Aug. 2020	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021
Expenditure category
All items	289.218	290.890	291.333	4.0	0.7	0.2
All items (1967=100)	854.479	859.418	860.727	-	-	-
Food and beverages	288.486	289.881	291.593	4.0	1.1	0.6
Food	288.855	290.582	292.167	4.1	1.1	0.5
Food at home	274.288	277.535	277.010	3.9	1.0	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products	283.817	283.924	282.737	2.2	-0.4	-0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	312.105	321.214	313.448	4.3	0.4	-2.4
Dairy and related products	265.577	265.171	268.182	3.8	1.0	1.1
Fruits and vegetables	375.174	372.452	382.012	6.5	1.8	2.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	272.911	272.546	273.176	3.0	0.1	0.2
Other food at home	203.112	209.102	207.404	2.8	2.1	-0.8
Food away from home	300.127	300.355	303.980	4.2	1.3	1.2
Alcoholic beverages	263.363	260.790	263.850	3.2	0.2	1.2
Housing	329.939	332.085	332.206	1.8	0.7	0.0
Shelter	379.449	381.105	380.890	1.2	0.4	-0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)	402.222	403.329	403.587	1.0	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	394.234	395.231	395.806	0.9	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	394.211	395.208	395.784	0.9	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities	384.486	393.448	394.546	10.8	2.6	0.3
Household energy	339.830	345.035	346.461	12.3	2.0	0.4
Energy services(2)	338.412	343.597	345.029	12.3	2.0	0.4
Electricity(2)	379.574	384.683	384.683	10.8	1.3	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	299.257	305.289	309.848	16.3	3.5	1.5
Household furnishings and operations	119.311	120.866	121.846	-0.2	2.1	0.8
Apparel	108.881	107.807	111.691	2.7	2.6	3.6
Transportation	236.538	238.876	236.982	16.3	0.2	-0.8
Private transportation	235.804	238.880	239.577	18.1	1.6	0.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	101.588	102.565	102.573	14.1	1.0	0.0
New vehicles(1)	176.871	179.479	183.610	8.0	3.8	2.3
Used cars and trucks(1)	376.506	378.904	373.749	31.0	-0.7	-1.4
Motor fuel	320.374	326.954	330.324	35.7	3.1	1.0
Gasoline (all types)	313.044	319.494	322.764	35.7	3.1	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	313.511	320.020	323.306	36.4	3.1	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	300.072	306.247	309.360	34.3	3.1	1.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	300.226	306.233	309.330	33.3	3.0	1.0
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	823.411	823.411	821.038	4.4	-0.3	-0.3
Medical care	510.542	511.849	510.897	0.6	0.1	-0.2
Recreation(6)	112.526	114.741	115.884	10.0	3.0	1.0
Education and communication(6)	148.386	148.291	148.759	-2.0	0.3	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,932.866	1,939.965	1,970.492	-0.7	1.9	1.6
Other goods and services	466.483	464.816	465.026	2.4	-0.3	0.0
Commodity and service group
All items	289.218	290.890	291.333	4.0	0.7	0.2
Commodities	195.890	197.297	199.101	7.6	1.6	0.9
Commodities less food & beverages	148.177	149.550	151.343	10.9	2.1	1.2
Nondurables less food & beverages	201.012	202.451	204.844	11.9	1.9	1.2
Durables	97.032	98.260	99.466	9.3	2.5	1.2
Services	371.836	373.713	372.791	2.2	0.3	-0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	279.512	281.186	281.675	4.2	0.8	0.2
All items less shelter	249.348	251.018	251.738	5.9	1.0	0.3
Commodities less food	153.238	154.482	156.332	10.4	2.0	1.2
Nondurables	246.014	247.439	249.502	7.1	1.4	0.8
Nondurables less food	207.601	208.757	211.223	11.0	1.7	1.2
Services less rent of shelter(3)	370.822	373.051	371.090	3.8	0.1	-0.5
Services less medical care services	358.685	360.556	359.629	2.4	0.3	-0.3
Energy	329.583	335.719	338.421	26.1	2.7	0.8
All items less energy	288.809	290.195	290.490	2.6	0.6	0.1
All items less food and energy	288.958	290.279	290.327	2.3	0.5	0.0
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.