Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.9 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 shelter and gasoline. (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 2.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 3.0 percent. Energy prices fell 3.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Aug 2023	3.7	3.5
Oct 2023	2.9	3.2
Dec 2023	2.7	2.8
Feb 2024	2.2	2.5
Apr 2024	2.6	3.0

Food prices increased 0.7 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.0 percent, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 3.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (8.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 4.9 percent.

The energy index rose 13.5 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (24.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 4.3 percent, while prices for natural gas service decreased 4.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 3.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-11.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 9.3 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 3.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (1.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-0.7 percent) and new vehicles (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (7.5 percent) and shelter (3.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-6.0 percent), new vehicles (-1.8 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix 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 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	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	Apr. 2023	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		181.010	-	184.462	2.6	1.9	-
Food and beverages		186.806	-	187.899	2.8	0.6	-
Food		189.879	-	191.238	3.0	0.7	-
Food at home		182.427	183.812	184.268	1.9	1.0	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		239.702	240.683	242.845	0.6	1.3	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		214.422	216.333	214.981	1.7	0.3	-0.6
Dairy and related products		140.298	144.525	144.083	-3.1	2.7	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables		163.962	164.688	164.847	8.4	0.5	0.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		140.464	138.830	141.972	-0.1	1.1	2.3
Other food at home		180.076	182.212	181.991	0.7	1.1	-0.1
Food away from home		203.791	-	204.394	4.9	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		153.277	-	152.232	-0.1	-0.7	-
Housing		203.931	-	207.626	3.4	1.8	-
Shelter		221.157	222.461	225.120	3.5	1.8	1.2
Rent of primary residence		239.038	239.287	239.034	4.1	0.0	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		218.653	219.084	218.675	2.4	0.0	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		218.653	219.084	218.675	2.4	0.0	-0.2
Fuels and utilities		194.341	-	199.676	8.5	2.7	-
Household energy		187.169	191.682	193.076	8.1	3.2	0.7
Energy services		187.092	191.724	193.103	8.4	3.2	0.7
Electricity		193.416	200.038	201.647	9.3	4.3	0.8
Utility (piped) gas service		160.407	153.206	153.264	3.1	-4.5	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		115.607	-	116.909	-0.7	1.1	-
Apparel		155.616	-	154.565	7.5	-0.7	-
Transportation		149.369	-	158.604	-3.2	6.2	-
Private transportation		152.963	-	162.209	-3.5	6.0	-
New and used motor vehicles		111.177	-	112.159	0.0	0.9	-
New vehicles		111.680	-	111.247	-1.8	-0.4	-
Used cars and trucks		109.109	-	108.258	-6.0	-0.8	-
Motor fuel		286.402	313.536	353.493	-12.1	23.4	12.7
Gasoline (all types)		284.949	313.560	355.593	-11.4	24.8	13.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		285.474	315.384	359.054	-11.7	25.8	13.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		299.676	327.488	368.628	-10.4	23.0	12.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		287.103	311.527	348.473	-9.7	21.4	11.9
Medical care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		127.421	-	128.924	2.2	1.2	-
Education and communication		120.015	-	120.101	1.9	0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		175.419	-	175.255	2.4	-0.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		181.010	-	184.462	2.6	1.9	-
Commodities		145.607	-	149.043	-0.7	2.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages		125.376	-	129.810	-2.8	3.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		172.549	-	183.951	-1.9	6.6	-
Durables		86.975	-	86.946	-4.2	0.0	-
Services		206.252	-	209.746	4.6	1.7	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		177.818	-	181.536	2.2	2.1	-
All items less shelter		160.951	-	164.138	2.0	2.0	-
Commodities less food		126.500	-	130.663	-2.8	3.3	-
Nondurables		180.899	-	186.837	0.7	3.3	-
Nondurables less food		171.062	-	181.080	-2.0	5.9	-
Services less rent of shelter		186.562	-	189.450	6.4	1.5	-
Services less medical care services		202.875	-	206.614	4.0	1.8	-
Energy		236.365	250.595	268.307	-3.9	13.5	7.1
All items less energy		177.634	-	179.760	3.0	1.2	-
All items less food and energy		175.646	-	177.867	3.0	1.3	-
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.