Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.6 percent for the two months ending in November 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the November decrease was influenced by lower prices for 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 advanced 5.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 8.2 percent. Energy prices increased 27.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.8 percent for the two months ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.8 percent. Higher prices for fruits and vegetables (6.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-4.6 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 3.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 8.2 percent. Prices for food at home increased 6.8 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home advanced 10.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 2.1 percent for the two months ending in November. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-4.1 percent). Prices for gasoline declined 0.5 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 3.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 27.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (36.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service and gasoline both rose 20.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for used cars and trucks (-4.8 percent), apparel (-3.8 percent), and shelter (-2.3 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for other goods and services (5.1 percent), recreation (4.4 percent), and education and communication (1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (8.9 percent), new vehicles (5.9 percent), and shelter (2.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in alcoholic beverages (-10.0 percent), used cars and trucks (-2.1 percent), and recreation (-0.3 percent).

Table A. Urban Hawaii CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2019		2020		2021		2022
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	-0.2	1.9	0.5	1.7	0.3	1.4	0.9	6.0
March	0.5	1.8	0.6	1.8	0.9	1.8	2.4	7.5
May	0.7	2.1	0.2	1.3	2.1	3.8	1.6	7.0
July	-0.1	1.6	0.0	1.3	0.8	4.6	0.6	6.8
September	0.1	1.1	0.6	1.9	1.0	5.0	0.8	6.6
November	0.1	0.9	-0.2	1.6	0.1	5.4	-0.6	5.8

The January 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2023.

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	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Nov. 2021	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022
Expenditure category
All items		321.799	-	319.971	5.8	-0.6	-
All items (1967=100)		885.905	-	880.870	-	-	-
Food and beverages		340.216	-	345.609	7.2	1.6	-
Food		343.424	-	349.593	8.2	1.8	-
Food at home		339.491	341.851	342.236	6.8	0.8	0.1
Cereals and bakery products		372.177	-	381.838	10.2	2.6	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		329.487	-	314.367	-5.2	-4.6	-
Dairy and related products		291.259	-	279.699	16.7	-4.0	-
Fruits and vegetables		402.349	-	427.510	10.2	6.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		424.765	-	433.188	-0.4	2.0	-
Other food at home		326.293	-	332.350	15.9	1.9	-
Food away from home		338.681	-	350.023	10.3	3.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		285.605	-	278.133	-10.0	-2.6	-
Housing		348.542	-	341.277	4.7	-2.1	-
Shelter		372.986	366.430	364.518	2.5	-2.3	-0.5
Rent of primary residence(2)		367.314	362.432	359.718	2.8	-2.1	-0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		376.417	371.990	374.485	2.7	-0.5	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		376.417	371.990	374.485	2.7	-0.5	0.7
Fuels and utilities		498.580	-	485.484	23.5	-2.6	-
Household energy		441.180	436.698	425.060	35.2	-3.7	-2.7
Energy services		434.147	429.051	417.498	35.5	-3.8	-2.7
Electricity		431.972	425.996	414.067	36.2	-4.1	-2.8
Utility (piped) gas service		395.091	410.177	409.105	20.7	3.5	-0.3
Household furnishings and operations		159.590	-	161.721	5.8	1.3	-
Apparel		111.439	-	107.187	0.0	-3.8	-
Transportation		274.317	-	274.915	9.9	0.2	-
Private transportation		286.238	-	285.363	10.0	-0.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.311	-	126.401	5.6	-0.7	-
New vehicles(1)		186.513	-	188.000	5.9	0.8	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		348.646	-	331.823	-2.1	-4.8	-
Motor fuel		412.504	411.837	410.594	20.7	-0.5	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)		423.263	422.553	421.275	20.7	-0.5	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		439.823	439.158	437.888	21.0	-0.4	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		351.372	350.995	350.032	20.6	-0.4	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		395.405	394.446	393.016	19.4	-0.6	-0.4
Medical care		-	-	488.065	8.9	-	-
Recreation(3)		137.042	-	143.109	-0.3	4.4	-
Education and communication(3)		152.985	-	155.743	2.9	1.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,949.176	-	1,922.709	2.4	-1.4	-
Other goods and services		560.816	-	589.566	10.5	5.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		321.799	-	319.971	5.8	-0.6	-
Commodities		245.504	-	248.165	8.4	1.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		187.583	-	188.837	9.5	0.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		242.510	-	245.451	13.3	1.2	-
Durables		130.657	-	130.725	5.7	0.1	-
Services		388.822	-	383.576	4.6	-1.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		312.626	-	310.973	5.6	-0.5	-
All items less shelter		300.810	-	302.755	8.3	0.6	-
Commodities less food		191.653	-	192.694	8.7	0.5	-
Nondurables		293.287	-	297.509	9.5	1.4	-
Nondurables less food		245.348	-	247.671	11.4	0.9	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		407.889	-	408.341	8.0	0.1	-
Services less medical care services		378.399	-	374.012	4.5	-1.2	-
Energy		424.809	422.286	415.985	27.5	-2.1	-1.5
All items less energy		317.162	-	315.782	4.3	-0.4	-
All items less food and energy		314.316	-	311.704	3.6	-0.8	-
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.