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News Release Information

21-1485-SAN
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, San Diego Area – July 2021

Area prices were up 2.1 percent over the past two months, up 6.0 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Diego area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.1 percent for the two months ending in July 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July 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 rose 6.0 percent. Food prices increased 6.8 percent. Energy prices jumped 29.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 5.3 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 2.7 percent, primarily due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (6.1 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 8.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 6.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.3 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home jumped 12.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 3.1 percent for the two months ending in July. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (3.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 3.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 29.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (36.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity jumped 20.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 12.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (4.3 percent), recreation (3.2 percent), and shelter (1.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-0.8 percent) and medical care (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (19.6 percent), shelter (3.3 percent), and recreation (2.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in household furnishings and operations (-1.4 percent) and medical care (-0.1 percent).

The September 2021 Consumer Price Index for the San Diego area is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on July 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 July 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 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan area includes San Diego County 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

San Diego-Carlsbad (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

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

Expenditure category

All items

317.141-323.9066.02.1-

All items (1967=100)

1,072.350-1,095.225---

Food and beverages

278.576-291.0276.34.5-

Food

275.450-290.0856.85.3-

Food at home

240.557245.903247.1012.32.70.5

Cereals and bakery products

282.960-290.4784.22.7-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

246.704-261.6341.66.1-

Dairy and related products

192.327-190.072-0.7-1.2-

Fruits and vegetables

271.087-269.4402.3-0.6-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

279.972-282.5644.40.9-

Other food at home

220.952-230.4592.14.3-

Food away from home

322.090-348.27812.08.1-

Alcoholic beverages

299.766-290.3651.5-3.1-

Housing

372.455-378.0213.51.5-

Shelter

421.289425.798428.5673.31.70.7

Rent of primary residence(2)

417.365418.442419.8761.70.60.3

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

444.657447.056451.0142.41.40.9

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

444.657447.056451.0142.41.40.9

Fuels and utilities

389.668-394.09712.41.1-

Household energy

373.559378.268380.05218.41.70.5

Energy services

369.822374.452375.76518.31.60.4

Electricity

358.532362.335362.33520.21.10.0

Utility (piped) gas service

287.462293.010297.65412.23.51.6

Household furnishings and operations

195.503-195.256-1.4-0.1-

Apparel

161.233-162.6874.60.9-

Transportation

256.596-266.03122.03.7-

Private transportation

250.746-258.49819.43.1-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

123.453-128.70719.64.3-

New vehicles(1)

248.109-244.9132.9-1.3-

Used cars and trucks(1)

296.869-329.03840.410.8-

Motor fuel

328.850335.451341.46836.43.81.8

Gasoline (all types)

328.699335.354341.39136.43.91.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

340.283347.249353.52436.93.91.8

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

286.681292.463297.83936.23.91.8

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

336.185342.701348.76634.63.71.8

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

572.272-572.2726.90.0-

Medical care

522.776-521.101-0.1-0.3-

Recreation(3)

163.731-169.0382.63.2-

Education and communication(3)

135.696-135.8810.60.1-

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

1,554.342-1,555.9951.00.1-

Other goods and services

445.915-442.3415.9-0.8-

Commodity and service group

All items

317.141-323.9066.02.1-

Commodities

217.389-225.4148.93.7-

Commodities less food & beverages

185.117-190.74811.23.0-

Nondurables less food & beverages

216.375-222.42211.82.8-

Durables

151.778-156.88810.33.4-

Services

404.820-409.8564.41.2-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

307.446-314.6016.52.3-

All items less shelter

275.664-282.1627.52.4-

Commodities less food

190.355-195.23910.42.6-

Nondurables

248.900-258.3388.53.8-

Nondurables less food

224.469-229.03610.52.0-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

405.931-408.4735.80.6-

Services less medical care services

391.386-396.9104.91.4-

Energy

340.164346.060350.59629.33.11.3

All items less energy

318.674-325.2854.82.1-

All items less food and energy

327.909-332.7164.41.5-

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a November 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, August 11, 2021