Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged for the two months ending in June 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that a decrease in shelter prices helped offset higher prices for recreation, food, and gasoline. (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 advanced 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.2 percent. Energy prices jumped 23.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.5 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 2.2 percent, mainly due to a price rise in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (6.1 percent) and cereals and bakery products (4.0 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.2 percent. Prices for food away from home moved up 4.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at from home rose 0.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.5 percent for the two months ending in June. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (7.4 percent). Prices for electricity advanced 1.8 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 0.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 23.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (41.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity moved up 8.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 3.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-3.8 percent), shelter (-1.7 percent), and medical care (-0.7) were partially offset by higher prices for used cars and trucks (17.6 percent), recreation (6.0 percent), and apparel (1.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (44.2 percent), recreation (12.4 percent), and apparel (10.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in alcoholic beverages (-1.4 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.8	3.4	1.4	3.6	0.5	3.5	0.9	2.9	0.5	1.6
April	1.1	3.8	0.8	3.2	1.2	4.0	-0.5	1.1	1.7	3.8
June	0.3	3.5	0.9	3.9	0.2	3.2	0.7	1.6	0.0	3.2
August	0.2	3.0	0.6	4.3	0.1	2.7	0.0	1.6
October	0.6	2.7	0.7	4.4	1.0	3.0	0.5	1.1
December	-0.1	2.9	0.1	4.5	-0.5	2.5	0.4	2.0

The August 2021 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on September 14, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

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

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Apr. 2021	May 2021	Jun. 2021	Jun. 2020	Apr. 2021	May 2021
Expenditure category
All items	309.419	-	309.497	3.2	0.0	-
All items (1967=100)	951.239	-	951.481	-	-	-
Food and beverages	308.790	-	313.130	1.9	1.4	-
Food	308.788	-	313.499	2.2	1.5	-
Food at home	272.702	277.710	278.720	0.3	2.2	0.4
Cereals and bakery products	268.268	-	279.054	-0.6	4.0	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	300.295	-	318.692	3.2	6.1	-
Dairy and related products	286.643	-	285.038	3.0	-0.6	-
Fruits and vegetables	368.829	-	367.523	0.7	-0.4	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	202.257	-	204.502	-5.3	1.1	-
Other food at home	222.654	-	224.203	-1.2	0.7	-
Food away from home	350.276	-	353.169	4.2	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages	312.228	-	312.050	-1.4	-0.1	-
Housing	368.394	-	362.249	0.9	-1.7	-
Shelter	416.798	410.584	409.726	0.4	-1.7	-0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)	467.758	467.261	466.651	0.6	-0.2	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	438.336	438.262	438.123	0.8	0.0	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	438.336	438.262	438.123	0.8	0.0	0.0
Fuels and utilities	469.885	-	475.260	6.6	1.1	-
Household energy	419.376	418.816	425.411	7.9	1.4	1.6
Energy services(2)	420.836	420.262	426.875	7.8	1.4	1.6
Electricity(2)	454.073	454.073	462.336	8.7	1.8	1.8
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	337.454	335.046	336.791	3.8	-0.2	0.5
Household furnishings and operations	156.336	-	150.399	1.4	-3.8	-
Apparel	107.007	-	108.847	10.1	1.7	-
Transportation	216.498	-	226.867	15.1	4.8	-
Private transportation	213.824	-	223.795	17.2	4.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New vehicles(1)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	301.321	-	354.500	44.2	17.6	-
Motor fuel	289.079	301.702	310.278	40.8	7.3	2.8
Gasoline (all types)	288.146	300.833	309.376	41.0	7.4	2.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	287.968	300.861	309.465	41.6	7.5	2.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	268.466	280.899	288.702	39.6	7.5	2.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	273.887	284.988	292.877	38.8	6.9	2.8
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	521.662	-	526.277	3.3	0.9	-
Medical care	555.675	-	551.518	0.4	-0.7	-
Recreation(6)	124.335	-	131.791	12.4	6.0	-
Education and communication(6)	152.099	-	152.271	1.0	0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,819.305	-	1,833.615	-0.5	0.8	-
Other goods and services	535.942	-	525.283	2.1	-2.0	-
Commodity and service group
All items	309.419	-	309.497	3.2	0.0	-
Commodities	202.736	-	207.245	6.4	2.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages	146.358	-	150.791	11.1	3.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	194.869	-	199.498	14.6	2.4	-
Durables	-	-	103.923	6.8	-	-
Services	398.340	-	395.061	1.9	-0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	299.283	-	299.513	3.3	0.1	-
All items less shelter	265.166	-	268.989	5.5	1.4	-
Commodities less food	153.548	-	157.870	10.2	2.8	-
Nondurables	253.206	-	257.676	6.3	1.8	-
Nondurables less food	204.083	-	208.365	12.5	2.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)	392.789	-	395.266	4.4	0.6	-
Services less medical care services	387.364	-	384.014	1.9	-0.9	-
Energy	342.694	350.139	357.977	23.1	4.5	2.2
All items less energy	311.595	-	310.959	2.3	-0.2	-
All items less food and energy	312.894	-	311.415	2.3	-0.5	-
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.