Prices in the Seattle area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.0 percent for the two months ending in April 2023, 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 and recreation. (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 6.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 8.0 percent, while energy prices were unchanged.  The index for all items less food and energy rose 7.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	1.3	1.6
Jun 2020	0.9	1.1
Aug 2020	1.6	1.4
Oct 2020	2.1	2.4
Dec 2020	1.4	1.3
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Apr 2021	3.4	2.7
Jun 2021	5.5	4.6
Aug 2021	5.2	4.1
Oct 2021	6.5	5.3
Dec 2021	7.6	6.5
Feb 2022	8.1	7.0
Apr 2022	9.1	7.8
Jun 2022	10.1	8.8
Aug 2022	9.0	8.2
Oct 2022	8.9	7.7
Dec 2022	8.4	8.1
Feb 2023	8.0	7.7
Apr 2023	6.9	7.3

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.8 percent, led by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-4.3 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 1.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 8.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 3.7 percent, with higher prices in four of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home increased 15.1 percent.

The energy index increased 4.0 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (6.4 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.4 percent, while prices for natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

The energy index was unchanged over the year. Prices rose for natural gas service (18.1 percent) and electricity (7.2 percent), but prices declined for gasoline (-4.7 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (3.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (1.8 percent), and shelter (0.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.3 percent) and education and communication (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 7.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (12.0 percent) and shelter (9.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-7.9 percent) and medical care (-0.2 percent).

The June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle area is scheduled to be released on July 12, 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (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		334.987	-	338.487	6.9	1.0	-
All items (1967=100)		1,021.172	-	1,031.840	-	-	-
Food and beverages		355.033	-	356.206	8.0	0.3	-
Food		359.537	-	359.856	8.0	0.1	-
Food at home		320.613	320.629	317.957	3.7	-0.8	-0.8
Cereals and bakery products		377.476	-	369.443	9.3	-2.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		294.298	-	281.785	-3.6	-4.3	-
Dairy and related products		295.374	-	297.064	11.6	0.6	-
Fruits and vegetables		484.436	-	487.291	0.0	0.6	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		411.131	-	414.397	7.1	0.8	-
Other food at home		249.030	-	248.733	5.9	-0.1	-
Food away from home		421.081	-	428.296	15.1	1.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		301.460	-	309.934	7.1	2.8	-
Housing		399.950	-	401.475	8.4	0.4	-
Shelter		456.994	458.342	459.731	9.1	0.6	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		462.371	464.440	464.518	9.8	0.5	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		478.695	480.252	480.733	9.8	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		478.695	480.252	480.733	9.8	0.4	0.1
Fuels and utilities		322.319	-	325.150	6.8	0.9	-
Household energy		292.154	292.311	294.691	8.3	0.9	0.8
Energy services(2)		342.564	342.863	346.198	9.8	1.1	1.0
Electricity(2)		358.495	358.906	363.653	7.2	1.4	1.3
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		222.311	222.336	222.336	18.1	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		229.626	-	226.584	5.6	-1.3	-
Apparel		130.382	-	134.690	3.0	3.3	-
Transportation		287.302	-	293.047	3.8	2.0	-
Private transportation		299.920	-	304.925	5.7	1.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		124.409	-	126.648	0.6	1.8	-
New vehicles(1)		222.984	-	224.345	4.7	0.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		421.222	-	442.808	-7.9	5.1	-
Motor fuel		476.176	486.706	505.396	-4.9	6.1	3.8
Gasoline (all types)		483.782	494.754	514.512	-4.7	6.4	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		524.462	536.302	557.879	-4.8	6.4	4.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		382.790	391.710	407.643	-4.5	6.5	4.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		447.338	457.648	475.343	-4.4	6.3	3.9
Medical care		432.231	-	430.594	-0.2	-0.4	-
Recreation(6)		118.367	-	122.865	12.0	3.8	-
Education and communication(6)		148.628	-	147.538	0.8	-0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		484.378	-	-	-	-	-
Commodity and service group
All items		334.987	-	338.487	6.9	1.0	-
Commodities		241.835	-	244.760	4.7	1.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		189.013	-	192.276	2.5	1.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.166	-	228.781	2.6	3.0	-
Durables		154.807	-	155.882	2.6	0.7	-
Services		420.780	-	424.705	8.3	0.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		330.867	-	334.589	7.4	1.1	-
All items less shelter		287.833	-	291.615	5.7	1.3	-
Commodities less food		193.414	-	196.858	2.7	1.8	-
Nondurables		285.948	-	290.184	5.8	1.5	-
Nondurables less food		228.872	-	235.648	3.0	3.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		386.687	-	392.457	7.2	1.5	-
Services less medical care services		415.928	-	420.170	9.1	1.0	-
Energy		393.429	398.686	409.165	0.0	4.0	2.6
All items less energy		335.602	-	338.641	7.4	0.9	-
All items less food and energy		331.830	-	335.286	7.3	1.0	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 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.