Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.9 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The January increase was influenced by higher prices for natural gas service and 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 6.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 9.7 percent. Energy prices increased 8.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.8 percent for the month of January. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 1.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 9.7 percent. Prices for food at home rose 10.5 percent since a year ago.  Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 6.8 percent for fruits and vegetables to 13.8 percent for dairy and related products. Prices for food away from home advanced 8.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 4.1 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (37.1 percent). Prices for electricity rose 4.0 percent, but prices for gasoline decreased 2.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 8.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (53.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 10.1 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 1.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in January. Higher prices for recreation (1.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.1 percent), and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.8 percent), recreation (4.6 percent), and medical care (3.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease for used cars and trucks (-11.0 percent).

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

Month	2019		2020		2021		2022		2023
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9	0.2	1.4	0.9	7.7	0.9	6.3
February	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1	0.5	1.6	0.8	8.1
March	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5	0.7	2.4	1.3	8.7
April	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3	1.0	3.9	0.7	8.3
May	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8	0.8	4.7	0.8	8.3
June	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2	0.9	5.1	1.2	8.8
July	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7	0.6	5.2	0.1	8.3
August	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9	0.2	5.0	0.0	8.1
September	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6	0.2	5.3	0.3	8.3
October	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2	0.8	6.0	0.7	8.1
November	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4	0.5	6.5	-0.4	7.1
December	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5	0.4	7.1	-0.4	6.2

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on March 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	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Jan. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items		315.919	314.599	317.477	6.3	0.5	0.9
All items (December 1977=100)		510.665	508.532	513.185	-	-	-
Food and beverages		325.740	326.660	329.284	9.4	1.1	0.8
Food		327.717	328.729	331.457	9.7	1.1	0.8
Food at home		311.536	312.237	314.531	10.5	1.0	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		322.502	323.610	326.905	13.7	1.4	1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		339.092	340.506	341.966	7.4	0.8	0.4
Dairy and related products		287.908	287.438	288.707	13.8	0.3	0.4
Fruits and vegetables		399.289	392.165	394.782	6.8	-1.1	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		217.683	218.715	222.159	11.5	2.1	1.6
Other food at home		263.349	266.944	268.668	12.5	2.0	0.6
Food away from home		347.428	348.953	352.467	8.6	1.5	1.0
Alcoholic beverages		295.002	294.554	295.732	4.3	0.2	0.4
Housing		346.277	348.889	353.857	8.1	2.2	1.4
Shelter		397.407	400.578	403.199	7.8	1.5	0.7
Rent of primary residence(1)		421.796	425.210	428.560	8.1	1.6	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		418.933	422.340	424.802	7.8	1.4	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		418.722	422.125	424.580	7.7	1.4	0.6
Fuels and utilities		377.423	382.539	417.117	15.5	10.5	9.0
Household energy		328.720	334.910	375.743	20.5	14.3	12.2
Energy services(1)		329.941	336.667	378.297	20.8	14.7	12.4
Electricity(1)		358.898	360.045	374.564	10.1	4.4	4.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		282.675	302.498	414.711	53.8	46.7	37.1
Household furnishings and operations		154.960	154.793	156.463	4.4	1.0	1.1
Apparel		123.579	121.768	123.886	4.3	0.2	1.7
Transportation		278.545	265.654	265.223	2.4	-4.8	-0.2
Private transportation		276.314	263.918	263.372	1.7	-4.7	-0.2
New and used motor vehicles(3)		126.131	124.105	124.288	-1.4	-1.5	0.1
New vehicles		174.899	175.047	175.967	4.0	0.6	0.5
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		174.137	174.674	175.380	5.1	0.7	0.4
Used cars and trucks		186.239	181.812	178.847	-11.0	-4.0	-1.6
Motor fuel		392.858	335.719	328.019	-0.9	-16.5	-2.3
Gasoline (all types)		389.561	331.920	324.521	-1.6	-16.7	-2.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		386.169	327.980	320.754	-1.7	-16.9	-2.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		370.376	318.128	310.165	-1.4	-16.3	-2.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		378.267	326.587	319.036	-0.9	-15.7	-2.3
Medical Care		573.507	574.202	576.065	3.6	0.4	0.3
Medical care commodities		438.214	439.511	444.290	3.3	1.4	1.1
Medical care services		615.318	615.829	616.839	3.7	0.2	0.2
Professional services		397.192	398.645	399.932	4.0	0.7	0.3
Recreation(3)		125.109	126.288	127.880	4.6	2.2	1.3
Education and communication(3)		143.679	143.636	143.907	1.7	0.2	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,627.469	1,628.954	1,630.213	4.4	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services		513.092	508.085	512.705	5.7	-0.1	0.9
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		315.919	314.599	317.477	6.3	0.5	0.9
Commodities		227.094	222.785	223.799	4.1	-1.5	0.5
Commodities less food & beverages		178.844	172.915	173.354	0.9	-3.1	0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages		238.248	224.583	225.097	3.4	-5.5	0.2
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		318.215	296.657	296.049	3.2	-7.0	-0.2
Durables		126.733	125.704	126.051	-1.5	-0.5	0.3
Services		397.112	399.007	403.783	7.6	1.7	1.2
Rent of shelter(2)		423.625	427.005	429.822	7.8	1.5	0.7
Transportation services		366.598	360.625	364.790	12.2	-0.5	1.2
Other services		392.316	394.157	397.187	4.8	1.2	0.8
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		304.038	302.639	305.550	6.5	0.5	1.0
All items less food		314.217	312.533	315.432	5.7	0.4	0.9
All items less shelter		283.925	280.773	283.773	5.5	-0.1	1.1
Commodities less food		183.364	177.495	177.954	1.0	-3.0	0.3
Nondurables		282.249	275.595	277.099	6.8	-1.8	0.5
Nondurables less food		242.932	229.931	230.485	3.5	-5.1	0.2
Nondurables less food and apparel		315.602	295.979	295.533	3.3	-6.4	-0.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)		407.832	407.984	416.078	7.4	2.0	2.0
Services less medical care services		381.819	383.799	388.825	8.0	1.8	1.3
Energy		371.342	341.756	355.921	8.3	-4.2	4.1
All items less energy		314.877	315.402	317.614	6.2	0.9	0.7
All items less food and energy		313.557	314.001	316.137	5.6	0.8	0.7
Commodities less food and energy commodities		161.313	160.237	161.291	1.2	0.0	0.7
Energy commodities		399.850	342.515	335.030	-0.7	-16.2	-2.2
Services less energy services		402.557	404.182	406.965	7.0	1.1	0.7
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.