Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.4 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The December decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 6.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 9.9 percent, and energy prices advanced 5.7 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.3 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 9.9 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 10.7 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 6.6 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 15.2 percent for dairy and related products. Prices for food away from home increased 8.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 8.0 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-14.8 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 7.0 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 5.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (9.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 19.0 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 0.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.1 percent in December. Higher prices for recreation (0.9 percent) and shelter (0.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.4 percent) and apparel (-1.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.6 percent) and medical care (4.7 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	0.0	8.1
September	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6	0.2	5.3	0.3	8.3
October	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2	0.8	6.0	0.7	8.1
November	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4	0.5	6.5	-0.4	7.1
December	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5	0.4	7.1	-0.4	6.2

The January 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region 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 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	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Dec. 2021	Oct. 2022	Nov. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items		317.299	315.919	314.599	6.2	-0.9	-0.4
All items (December 1977=100)		512.896	510.665	508.532	-	-	-
Food and beverages		325.289	325.740	326.660	9.5	0.4	0.3
Food		327.312	327.717	328.729	9.9	0.4	0.3
Food at home		312.155	311.536	312.237	10.7	0.0	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		320.348	322.502	323.610	14.8	1.0	0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		343.299	339.092	340.506	6.6	-0.8	0.4
Dairy and related products		283.916	287.908	287.438	15.2	1.2	-0.2
Fruits and vegetables		391.901	399.289	392.165	8.0	0.1	-1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		220.708	217.683	218.715	9.8	-0.9	0.5
Other food at home		266.416	263.349	266.944	12.9	0.2	1.4
Food away from home		345.261	347.428	348.953	8.6	1.1	0.4
Alcoholic beverages		293.879	295.002	294.554	4.8	0.2	-0.2
Housing		345.092	346.277	348.889	7.5	1.1	0.8
Shelter		395.367	397.407	400.578	7.6	1.3	0.8
Rent of primary residence(1)		418.953	421.796	425.210	7.7	1.5	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		416.203	418.933	422.340	7.7	1.5	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		415.996	418.722	422.125	7.7	1.5	0.8
Fuels and utilities		379.933	377.423	382.539	9.6	0.7	1.4
Household energy		332.078	328.720	334.910	11.6	0.9	1.9
Energy services(1)		333.224	329.941	336.667	11.7	1.0	2.0
Electricity(1)		362.797	358.898	360.045	9.2	-0.8	0.3
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		284.737	282.675	302.498	19.0	6.2	7.0
Household furnishings and operations		155.108	154.960	154.793	4.7	-0.2	-0.1
Apparel		125.343	123.579	121.768	4.3	-2.9	-1.5
Transportation		287.321	278.545	265.654	3.7	-7.5	-4.6
Private transportation		285.147	276.314	263.918	3.0	-7.4	-4.5
New and used motor vehicles(3)		128.176	126.131	124.105	0.0	-3.2	-1.6
New vehicles		174.748	174.899	175.047	4.9	0.2	0.1
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		174.793	174.137	174.674	5.6	-0.1	0.3
Used cars and trucks		191.640	186.239	181.812	-8.2	-5.1	-2.4
Motor fuel		433.144	392.858	335.719	1.3	-22.5	-14.5
Gasoline (all types)		430.968	389.561	331.920	0.6	-23.0	-14.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		427.664	386.169	327.980	0.4	-23.3	-15.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		409.380	370.376	318.128	1.0	-22.3	-14.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		416.636	378.267	326.587	1.3	-21.6	-13.7
Medical Care		578.273	573.507	574.202	4.7	-0.7	0.1
Medical care commodities		433.426	438.214	439.511	3.5	1.4	0.3
Medical care services		623.019	615.318	615.829	5.0	-1.2	0.1
Professional services		397.833	397.192	398.645	5.0	0.2	0.4
Recreation(3)		125.367	125.109	126.288	4.1	0.7	0.9
Education and communication(3)		143.188	143.679	143.636	1.5	0.3	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,625.960	1,627.469	1,628.954	4.3	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services		509.802	513.092	508.085	4.4	-0.3	-1.0
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		317.299	315.919	314.599	6.2	-0.9	-0.4
Commodities		230.415	227.094	222.785	4.7	-3.3	-1.9
Commodities less food & beverages		183.324	178.844	172.915	1.6	-5.7	-3.3
Nondurables less food & beverages		247.557	238.248	224.583	3.7	-9.3	-5.7
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		332.569	318.215	296.657	3.5	-10.8	-6.8
Durables		128.069	126.733	125.704	-0.3	-1.8	-0.8
Services		396.383	397.112	399.007	7.2	0.7	0.5
Rent of shelter(2)		421.427	423.625	427.005	7.6	1.3	0.8
Transportation services		367.184	366.598	360.625	12.5	-1.8	-1.6
Other services		390.163	392.316	394.157	4.2	1.0	0.5
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		305.272	304.038	302.639	6.4	-0.9	-0.5
All items less food		315.876	314.217	312.533	5.7	-1.1	-0.5
All items less shelter		286.702	283.925	280.773	5.5	-2.1	-1.1
Commodities less food		187.765	183.364	177.495	1.7	-5.5	-3.2
Nondurables		286.867	282.249	275.595	7.0	-3.9	-2.4
Nondurables less food		251.708	242.932	229.931	3.7	-8.7	-5.4
Nondurables less food and apparel		328.539	315.602	295.979	3.6	-9.9	-6.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)		408.954	407.832	407.984	6.6	-0.2	0.0
Services less medical care services		380.535	381.819	383.799	7.4	0.9	0.5
Energy		395.694	371.342	341.756	5.7	-13.6	-8.0
All items less energy		314.760	314.877	315.402	6.3	0.2	0.2
All items less food and energy		313.489	313.557	314.001	5.7	0.2	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities		162.359	161.313	160.237	1.8	-1.3	-0.7
Energy commodities		440.236	399.850	342.515	1.5	-22.2	-14.3
Services less energy services		401.594	402.557	404.182	7.0	0.6	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.