Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.2 percent for the two months ending in June 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the June increase was influenced by higher 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 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 6.8 percent. Energy prices decreased 12.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, June 2020–June 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2020	2.0	3.2
Aug 2020	1.8	2.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.4
Dec 2020	0.5	1.0
Feb 2021	1.0	1.0
Apr 2021	4.9	4.2
Jun 2021	5.4	4.7
Aug 2021	5.1	4.7
Oct 2021	7.1	6.4
Dec 2021	9.7	8.3
Feb 2022	10.9	9.9
Apr 2022	11.0	9.7
Jun 2022	12.3	10.2
Aug 2022	13.0	12.3
Oct 2022	12.1	11.1
Dec 2022	9.5	10.2
Feb 2023	8.5	9.1
Apr 2023	7.4	8.1
Jun 2023	4.4	5.9

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home were unchanged, with higher prices for fruits and vegetables (4.5 percent) being offset by lower prices for dairy and related products (-4.4 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-1.8 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 1.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 6.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 4.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (17.5 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 9.8 percent.

The energy index was unchanged for the two months ending in June. Higher prices for electricity (13.8 percent) and natural gas service (2.9 percent) were offset by lower prices for gasoline (-8.3 percent).

Energy prices decreased 12.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-20.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 9.0 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (2.2 percent) and shelter (1.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-4.8 percent) and education and communication (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (12.1 percent) and medical care (6.9 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-7.6 percent) and recreation (-2.4 percent).

The August 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on September 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Apr. 2023	May 2023	Jun. 2023	Jun. 2022	Apr. 2023	May 2023
Expenditure category
All items		179.824	-	180.251	4.4	0.2	-
Food and beverages		182.791	-	184.116	6.6	0.7	-
Food		185.594	-	186.953	6.8	0.7	-
Food at home		180.876	182.349	180.963	4.9	0.0	-0.8
Cereals and bakery products		241.359	234.255	245.941	17.5	1.9	5.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		211.352	211.780	207.565	-6.2	-1.8	-2.0
Dairy and related products		148.621	150.613	142.073	-4.3	-4.4	-5.7
Fruits and vegetables		152.138	160.054	158.970	9.8	4.5	-0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		142.177	140.613	138.533	8.4	-2.6	-1.5
Other food at home		180.655	182.282	180.897	7.2	0.1	-0.8
Food away from home		194.899	-	198.414	9.8	1.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		152.344	-	153.294	2.6	0.6	-
Housing		200.779	-	204.550	9.9	1.9	-
Shelter		217.612	219.494	220.868	12.1	1.5	0.6
Rent of primary residence		229.551	231.021	232.429	13.2	1.3	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		213.581	214.522	215.820	11.6	1.0	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		213.581	214.522	215.820	11.6	1.0	0.6
Fuels and utilities		184.025	-	200.469	1.8	8.9	-
Household energy		178.544	201.180	200.933	1.0	12.5	-0.1
Energy services		178.062	201.095	200.835	1.4	12.8	-0.1
Electricity		184.524	210.263	209.974	0.0	13.8	-0.1
Utility (piped) gas service		148.631	152.954	152.886	9.0	2.9	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		117.762	-	117.488	1.1	-0.2	-
Apparel		143.715	-	142.762	-1.5	-0.7	-
Transportation		163.849	-	158.932	-6.2	-3.0	-
Private transportation		168.133	-	164.335	-5.9	-2.3	-
New and used motor vehicles		112.136	-	114.580	-2.8	2.2	-
New vehicles		113.304	-	113.433	2.0	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks		115.111	-	120.271	-7.6	4.5	-
Motor fuel		401.995	413.246	368.713	-20.5	-8.3	-10.8
Gasoline (all types)		401.145	412.686	368.027	-20.7	-8.3	-10.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		406.684	418.501	371.885	-21.2	-8.6	-11.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		411.348	423.200	379.947	-19.6	-7.6	-10.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		385.977	396.635	358.645	-18.6	-7.1	-9.6
Medical care		221.638	-	222.466	6.9	0.4	-
Recreation		126.189	-	120.194	-2.4	-4.8	-
Education and communication		117.909	-	115.748	-1.8	-1.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		223.710	-	223.840	-	0.1	-
Other goods and services		171.197	-	169.811	2.1	-0.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items		179.824	-	180.251	4.4	0.2	-
Commodities		150.075	-	149.474	-1.4	-0.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages		133.599	-	132.142	-5.4	-1.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		187.606	-	183.124	-8.6	-2.4	-
Durables		90.756	-	91.083	-3.0	0.4	-
Services		200.612	-	201.842	8.0	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		177.608	-	178.011	4.2	0.2	-
All items less shelter		160.940	-	159.960	-0.2	-0.6	-
Commodities less food		134.429	-	133.053	-5.2	-1.0	-
Nondurables		185.554	-	184.228	-0.9	-0.7	-
Nondurables less food		184.825	-	180.809	-8.0	-2.2	-
Services less rent of shelter		177.991	-	176.319	1.5	-0.9	-
Services less medical care services		198.713	-	200.243	8.2	0.8	-
Energy		279.301	298.106	279.333	-12.0	0.0	-6.3
All items less energy		174.515	-	174.957	6.0	0.3	-
All items less food and energy		172.721	-	173.023	5.9	0.2	-
Footnotes (1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.