Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The July increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and food. (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 increased 8.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 10.3 percent. Energy prices advanced 28.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.8 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.1 percent, with increases in five of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 10.3 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 12.8 percent since a year ago, with price increases of 11.0 percent or more in all six subcategories. Prices for food away from home rose 6.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 3.6 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-5.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 4.2 percent, but electricity prices rose 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 28.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (39.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 19.7 percent, and prices for electricity rose 10.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in July. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (0.7 percent), recreation (0.6 percent), and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for alcoholic beverages (-0.5 percent), apparel (-0.4 percent), and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included household furnishings and operations (12.0 percent), new and used motor vehicles (8.3 percent), and shelter (6.2 percent).

Table A. West region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9	0.2	1.4	0.9	7.7
February	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1	0.5	1.6	0.8	8.1
March	0.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5	0.7	2.4	1.3	8.7
April	0.4	3.2	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3	1.0	3.9	0.7	8.3
May	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8	0.8	4.7	0.8	8.3
June	0.2	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2	0.9	5.1	1.2	8.8
July	0.1	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7	0.6	5.2	0.1	8.3
August	0.2	3.6	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9	0.2	5.0
September	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6	0.2	5.3
October	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2	0.8	6.0
November	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4	0.5	6.5
December	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5	0.4	7.1

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2022.

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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Jul. 2021	May 2022	Jun. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items		309.645	313.496	313.951	8.3	1.4	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)		500.524	506.748	507.484
Food and beverages		312.918	317.106	319.435	10.0	2.1	0.7
Food		314.456	318.838	321.428	10.3	2.2	0.8
Food at home		299.993	304.172	307.392	12.8	2.5	1.1
Cereals and bakery products		300.153	305.463	311.396	13.1	3.7	1.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		338.424	342.481	339.241	11.4	0.2	-0.9
Dairy and related products		275.029	277.787	280.307	12.3	1.9	0.9
Fruits and vegetables		381.664	385.744	387.540	11.0	1.5	0.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		210.726	211.020	215.558	12.3	2.3	2.2
Other food at home		251.380	257.084	263.070	15.4	4.7	2.3
Food away from home		331.529	336.151	337.584	6.8	1.8	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		288.689	290.005	288.488	4.9	-0.1	-0.5
Housing		335.311	337.805	339.184	7.2	1.2	0.4
Shelter		382.726	385.252	387.370	6.2	1.2	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)		404.198	406.873	409.379	6.1	1.3	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		401.519	404.144	406.994	6.4	1.4	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		401.344	403.973	406.820	6.4	1.4	0.7
Fuels and utilities		373.469	377.106	374.545	10.6	0.3	-0.7
Household energy		325.330	329.280	325.206	12.7	0.0	-1.2
Energy services(1)		326.508	329.956	326.537	12.3	0.0	-1.0
Electricity(1)		356.644	354.959	355.360	10.1	-0.4	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		276.358	291.702	279.382	19.7	1.1	-4.2
Household furnishings and operations		153.479	155.275	155.742	12.0	1.5	0.3
Apparel		122.382	122.336	121.815	5.8	-0.5	-0.4
Transportation		285.185	295.312	292.198	16.2	2.5	-1.1
Private transportation		280.414	290.744	288.693	16.0	3.0	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.860	130.289	131.187	8.3	2.6	0.7
New vehicles		171.505	172.591	173.173	8.2	1.0	0.3
New cars and trucks(3)(4)
New cars(4)		170.996	172.281	173.081		1.2	0.5
Used cars and trucks		200.407	204.799	205.520	7.1	2.6	0.4
Motor fuel		430.133	463.924	441.270	40.0	2.6	-4.9
Gasoline (all types)		427.409	461.261	438.278	39.4	2.5	-5.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		424.606	458.717	435.287	39.9	2.5	-5.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		404.185	435.612	415.325	38.4	2.8	-4.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		411.339	441.970	422.219	37.4	2.6	-4.5
Medical Care		566.873	567.250	568.682	5.1	0.3	0.3
Medical care commodities		427.357	430.052	434.655	4.0	1.7	1.1
Medical care services		609.977	609.643	610.102	5.3	0.0	0.1
Professional services		387.767	387.899	386.038	2.3	-0.4	-0.5
Recreation(3)		122.490	123.361	124.108	3.2	1.3	0.6
Education and communication(3)		141.034	141.800	141.617	0.9	0.4	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,566.464	1,582.560	1,578.362	4.2	0.8	-0.3
Other goods and services		499.546	500.908	504.605	5.9	1.0	0.7
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		309.645	313.496	313.951	8.3	1.4	0.1
Commodities		226.272	230.794	230.358	11.7	1.8	-0.2
Commodities less food & beverages		182.356	186.739	185.340	12.9	1.6	-0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages		243.622	252.083	247.292	17.6	1.5	-1.9
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		327.889	341.968	334.339	20.7	2.0	-2.2
Durables		128.840	130.502	131.121	8.5	1.8	0.5
Services		385.326	388.311	389.690	6.3	1.1	0.4
Rent of shelter(2)		407.841	410.511	412.791	6.3	1.2	0.6
Transportation services		355.856	365.608	367.484	10.0	3.3	0.5
Other services		381.253	383.227	384.005	2.7	0.7	0.2
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		297.802	301.783	302.196	8.6	1.5	0.1
All items less food		309.031	312.800	312.922	8.0	1.3	0.0
All items less shelter		281.050	285.454	285.234	9.5	1.5	-0.1
Commodities less food		186.692	191.052	189.636	12.6	1.6	-0.7
Nondurables		278.804	285.238	283.881	13.3	1.8	-0.5
Nondurables less food		247.677	255.785	251.151	16.6	1.4	-1.8
Nondurables less food and apparel		323.822	336.728	329.662	19.2	1.8	-2.1
Services less rent of shelter(2)		399.962	403.705	404.055	6.3	1.0	0.1
Services less medical care services		369.635	372.832	374.268	6.4	1.3	0.4
Energy		390.935	411.874	397.191	28.5	1.6	-3.6
All items less energy		306.854	309.614	311.066	6.9	1.4	0.5
All items less food and energy		306.402	308.894	310.157	6.3	1.2	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities		161.495	163.061	163.664	7.3	1.3	0.4
Energy commodities		437.032	471.276	448.036	39.8	2.5	-4.9
Services less energy services		390.245	393.215	394.874	6.0	1.2	0.4
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (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. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.