Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.2 percent for the two months ending in April 2024, 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 gasoline and 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 increased 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 2.2 percent. Energy prices advanced 9.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Alaska, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2021	4.8	3.7
Jun 2021	6.2	6.0
Aug 2021	5.7	4.5
Oct 2021	6.3	4.9
Dec 2021	7.2	5.7
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Apr 2022	7.5	5.2
Jun 2022	12.4	6.3
Aug 2022	7.6	6.7
Oct 2022	7.6	6.6
Dec 2022	5.4	5.6
Feb 2023	4.3	5.0
Apr 2023	3.1	5.4
Jun 2023	-3.3	1.8
Aug 2023	2.0	2.7
Oct 2023	1.1	2.2
Dec 2023	1.8	2.5
Feb 2024	1.7	2.0
Apr 2024	3.2	2.7

Food prices increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.4 percent, led by higher prices for dairy and related products (4.9 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 2.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.2 percent. Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 5.6 percent.

The energy index rose 10.3 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (21.6 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.5 percent, while prices for natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 9.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (12.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 14.3 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 2.7 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (3.4 percent) and shelter (0.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-2.6 percent) and used cars and trucks (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (13.4 percent), apparel (3.4 percent) and shelter (2.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-7.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-6.0 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.

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 Urban Alaska area covered in this release consists of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the State of Alaska.

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

Urban Alaska (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	Apr. 2023	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		261.340	-	267.046	3.2	2.2	-
All items (1967=100)		697.552	-	712.782	-	-	-
Food and beverages		257.154	-	259.809	2.2	1.0	-
Food		266.559	-	269.253	2.2	1.0	-
Food at home		256.259	256.919	257.409	0.6	0.4	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		264.376	258.488	255.082	-3.3	-3.5	-1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		231.786	231.610	233.110	0.7	0.6	0.6
Dairy and related products		238.351	241.929	249.983	-1.0	4.9	3.3
Fruits and vegetables		398.211	399.721	404.489	2.4	1.6	1.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		184.994	183.107	182.364	0.3	-1.4	-0.4
Other food at home		216.355	220.842	219.281	1.9	1.4	-0.7
Food away from home		284.020	-	290.623	5.6	2.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing		235.515	-	236.919	2.4	0.6	-
Shelter		239.657	240.742	241.616	2.8	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		237.756	238.425	239.078	5.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		240.507	240.998	241.429	2.6	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		240.507	240.998	241.429	2.6	0.4	0.2
Fuels and utilities		377.461	-	383.730	8.1	1.7	-
Household energy		385.253	385.491	388.186	8.4	0.8	0.7
Energy services		431.140	431.140	434.857	9.2	0.9	0.9
Electricity		379.043	379.043	384.567	14.3	1.5	1.5
Utility (piped) gas service		491.615	491.615	491.615	2.7	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		140.677	-	137.011	-6.0	-2.6	-
Apparel		158.833	-	158.969	3.4	0.1	-
Transportation		273.465	-	294.469	3.0	7.7	-
Private transportation		280.655	-	300.580	4.2	7.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		124.902	-	125.299	-7.0	0.3	-
New vehicles(1)		269.639	-	272.977	-2.6	1.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		336.308	-	334.596	-7.6	-0.5	-
Motor fuel		295.626	315.816	354.547	10.9	19.9	12.3
Gasoline (all types)		296.576	318.619	360.519	12.8	21.6	13.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		284.641	306.525	347.344	12.8	22.0	13.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		287.731	307.476	346.488	12.4	20.4	12.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		307.246	327.341	368.500	12.7	19.9	12.6
Medical care		746.732	-	751.147	-	0.6	-
Recreation(3)		138.524	-	143.266	1.4	3.4	-
Education and communication(3)		113.098	-	112.934	1.1	-0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		791.855	-	797.438	2.6	0.7	-
Other goods and services		497.706	-	499.378	13.4	0.3	-
Commodity and service group
All items		261.340	-	267.046	3.2	2.2	-
Commodities		208.692	-	213.094	0.9	2.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		184.054	-	189.177	-0.3	2.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		237.327	-	254.983	5.1	7.4	-
Durables		139.267	-	138.663	-4.6	-0.4	-
Services		307.783	-	314.665	4.9	2.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		244.760	-	250.401	2.9	2.3	-
All items less shelter		269.955	-	277.584	3.3	2.8	-
Commodities less food		183.702	-	188.736	-0.2	2.7	-
Nondurables		248.420	-	257.273	3.4	3.6	-
Nondurables less food		232.131	-	248.369	5.0	7.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		420.255	-	436.687	7.5	3.9	-
Services less medical care services		281.373	-	288.222	4.6	2.4	-
Energy		336.181	347.756	370.935	9.9	10.3	6.7
All items less energy		257.323	-	261.346	2.6	1.6	-
All items less food and energy		256.599	-	260.887	2.7	1.7	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1978=100 base. (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.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.