Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the April increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (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 3.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 6.5 percent. Energy prices decreased 8.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	0.7	1.7
May 2020	0.9	1.8
Jun 2020	1.4	1.8
Jul 2020	1.9	2.3
Aug 2020	2.0	2.0
Sep 2020	1.2	1.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.2
Nov 2020	1.0	1.5
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	0.9	0.6
Feb 2021	1.0	0.3
Mar 2021	2.2	0.9
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5
Mar 2023	3.7	4.3
Apr 2023	3.8	4.5

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.3 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.5 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.5 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 7.9 percent.

The energy index declined 0.9 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-10.6 percent). Prices for gasoline advanced 0.4 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 8.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service decreased 5.0 percent, but prices for electricity rose 7.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.9 percent in April. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (5.0 percent) and shelter (0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (10.5 percent) and shelter (5.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-5.2 percent).

The May 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2023.

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

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

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2022	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		317.571	317.873	320.089	3.8	0.8	0.7
All items (1967=100)		938.247	939.139	945.686	-	-	-
Food and beverages		326.720	326.415	327.758	6.2	0.3	0.4
Food		328.229	327.761	329.226	6.5	0.3	0.4
Food at home		317.053	314.606	315.427	5.5	-0.5	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		349.789	351.276	351.041	11.6	0.4	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		339.260	336.977	335.803	0.8	-1.0	-0.3
Dairy and related products		307.305	301.819	302.758	6.5	-1.5	0.3
Fruits and vegetables		415.390	418.124	414.965	-0.8	-0.1	-0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		301.326	297.162	300.587	5.8	-0.2	1.2
Other food at home		255.402	250.317	253.955	11.9	-0.6	1.5
Food away from home		333.904	336.738	339.214	7.9	1.6	0.7
Alcoholic beverages		284.531	286.385	286.036	2.2	0.5	-0.1
Housing		361.568	361.422	363.296	5.2	0.5	0.5
Shelter		410.139	412.253	414.561	5.4	1.1	0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)		434.905	437.677	438.691	5.3	0.9	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		424.743	426.221	428.620	5.5	0.9	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		424.718	426.197	428.596	5.5	0.9	0.6
Fuels and utilities		477.230	456.124	447.043	5.6	-6.3	-2.0
Household energy		434.083	407.268	397.137	4.9	-8.5	-2.5
Energy services(2)		432.327	405.473	395.397	5.1	-8.5	-2.5
Electricity(2)		472.172	468.011	467.839	7.0	-0.9	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		403.709	321.310	287.225	-5.0	-28.9	-10.6
Household furnishings and operations		133.353	131.741	134.939	3.2	1.2	2.4
Apparel		120.473	119.449	120.942	4.9	0.4	1.2
Transportation		259.474	261.838	263.222	-3.6	1.4	0.5
Private transportation		260.013	262.710	263.565	-3.4	1.4	0.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)		111.731	112.348	112.801	2.1	1.0	0.4
New vehicles(1)		195.514	196.038	196.422	2.3	0.5	0.2
Used cars and trucks(1)		350.910	355.382	369.888	-5.2	5.4	4.1
Motor fuel		357.624	370.173	371.650	-15.7	3.9	0.4
Gasoline (all types)		348.035	360.457	362.041	-15.9	4.0	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		348.609	361.216	362.753	-16.1	4.1	0.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		333.499	344.842	346.674	-15.4	4.0	0.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		333.803	345.131	346.816	-15.0	3.9	0.5
Medical care		556.341	553.804	559.580	3.2	0.6	1.0
Recreation(6)		121.814	121.343	123.357	4.3	1.3	1.7
Education and communication(6)		155.873	156.557	156.792	3.0	0.6	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,179.863	2,186.149	2,224.971	7.0	2.1	1.8
Other goods and services		500.949	504.268	529.236	10.5	5.6	5.0
Commodity and service group
All items		317.571	317.873	320.089	3.8	0.8	0.7
Commodities		215.603	216.305	217.448	0.5	0.9	0.5
Commodities less food & beverages		159.604	160.539	161.504	-3.8	1.2	0.6
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.267	223.709	225.613	-4.7	1.5	0.9
Durables		101.582	102.119	102.501	-1.8	0.9	0.4
Services		407.703	407.577	410.795	5.6	0.8	0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		307.054	307.469	309.535	3.9	0.8	0.7
All items less shelter		276.631	276.112	278.294	2.8	0.6	0.8
Commodities less food		164.958	165.928	166.880	-3.5	1.2	0.6
Nondurables		275.948	276.579	278.246	1.5	0.8	0.6
Nondurables less food		228.989	230.475	232.268	-4.2	1.4	0.8
Services less rent of shelter(3)		415.924	412.108	416.881	6.0	0.2	1.2
Services less medical care services		393.426	393.347	396.440	5.8	0.8	0.8
Energy		390.509	386.921	383.630	-8.3	-1.8	-0.9
All items less energy		315.304	315.825	318.361	4.8	1.0	0.8
All items less food and energy		313.159	313.828	316.523	4.5	1.1	0.9
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.