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News Release Information

21-1327-SAN
Tuesday, July 13, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area – June 2021

Area prices were up 1.9 percent over the past two months, up 5.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.9 percent for the two months ending in June 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and used cars and trucks. (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 5.4 percent. Food prices advanced 2.5 percent. Energy prices jumped 20.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 1.9 percent, with price decreases occurring across all food categories. Prices for food away from home increased 2.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.5 percent. Food away from home prices rose 4.7 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 0.4 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (8.3 percent).

Energy

The energy index rose 8.1 percent for the two months ending in June. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (17.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 6.7 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 1.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 20.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (35.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 29.3 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 6.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (17.4 percent), recreation (1.8 percent), and shelter (1.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-2.6 percent) and education and communication (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (43.5 percent), apparel (11.1 percent), recreation (5.7 percent), and shelter (4.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in motor vehicle insurance (-3.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.1 percent).

The August 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on June 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 June 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Apr.
2021
May
2021
Jun.
2021
Jun.
2020
Apr.
2021
May
2021

Expenditure category

All items

150.787-153.6725.41.9-

Food and beverages

158.516-158.5592.40.0-

Food

160.063-160.0472.50.0-

Food at home

156.925154.080153.8670.4-1.9-0.1

Cereals and bakery products

196.378-191.645-0.7-2.4-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

190.548-188.077-8.1-1.3-

Dairy and related products

128.153-127.3372.0-0.6-

Fruits and vegetables

133.942-133.4842.0-0.3-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

125.560-119.5498.3-4.8-

Other food at home

152.943-149.5402.1-2.2-

Food away from home

166.554-169.8924.72.0-

Alcoholic beverages

143.701-144.5650.70.6-

Housing

156.755-160.5934.22.4-

Shelter

165.970167.639168.7794.81.70.7

Rent of primary residence

176.677178.165178.8863.91.30.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

164.381165.589166.4964.51.30.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

164.381165.589166.4964.51.30.5

Fuels and utilities

160.877-179.3926.611.5-

Household energy

156.245182.275182.3588.016.70.0

Energy services

155.880181.937182.0057.916.80.0

Electricity

164.231193.737193.6656.117.90.0

Utility (piped) gas service

114.490121.224122.14229.36.70.8

Household furnishings and operations

99.911-99.959-1.10.0-

Apparel

138.042-134.39011.1-2.6-

Transportation

135.829-143.44316.95.6-

Private transportation

139.933-148.00517.45.8-

New and used motor vehicles

------

New vehicles

------

Used cars and trucks

102.486-120.36843.517.4-

Motor fuel

259.003263.947262.33935.11.3-0.6

Gasoline (all types)

259.560264.557262.86735.21.3-0.6

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

260.003265.135263.32336.21.3-0.7

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

271.882277.346275.77733.31.4-0.6

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

261.340265.602264.34730.21.2-0.5

Motor vehicle insurance

161.037-161.037-3.00.0-

Medical care

------

Recreation

121.132-123.2615.71.8-

Education and communication

120.210-118.6501.4-1.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

------

Other goods and services

151.237-153.5502.71.5-

Commodity and service group

All items

150.787-153.6725.41.9-

Commodities

130.456-132.2267.01.4-

Commodities less food & beverages

116.173-118.6139.72.1-

Nondurables less food & beverages

156.286-156.14710.8-0.1-

Durables

82.491-86.2998.54.6-

Services

164.760-168.4594.42.2-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

147.758-150.9806.12.2-

All items less shelter

142.877-145.7755.72.0-

Commodities less food

117.247-119.6519.42.1-

Nondurables

157.714-157.6686.30.0-

Nondurables less food

155.249-155.17510.10.0-

Services less rent of shelter

162.919-167.6124.22.9-

Services less medical care services

161.110-165.4295.12.7-

Energy

204.820222.035221.37220.78.1-0.3

All items less energy

147.688-149.8684.41.5-

All items less food and energy

145.736-148.2244.71.7-

Footnotes
(1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2021