Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent for the two months ending in June 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for electricity 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 2.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.0 percent. Energy prices fell 5.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jun 2024	2.7	3.4

Food prices decreased 0.3 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.9 percent, led by lower prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-2.7 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-2.1 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.0 percent. Prices for food at home rose 0.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.2 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 3.6 percent.

The energy index declined 1.7 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-12.2 percent). Prices for electricity increased 12.5 percent, and natural gas service prices rose 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 5.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 8.0 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 0.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for other goods and services (7.9 percent) and shelter (0.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.9 percent) and education and communication (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (11.3 percent) and shelter (2.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increase was a price decrease in new and used motor vehicles (-2.8 percent).

The August 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on September 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	Apr. 2024	May 2024	Jun. 2024	Jun. 2023	Apr. 2024	May 2024
Expenditure category
All items		184.462	-	185.108	2.7	0.4	-
Food and beverages		187.899	-	187.776	2.0	-0.1	-
Food		191.238	-	190.700	2.0	-0.3	-
Food at home		184.268	185.014	182.606	0.9	-0.9	-1.3
Cereals and bakery products		242.845	244.539	237.705	-3.3	-2.1	-2.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		214.981	216.683	216.276	4.2	0.6	-0.2
Dairy and related products		144.083	143.832	143.147	0.8	-0.6	-0.5
Fruits and vegetables		164.847	165.077	162.736	2.4	-1.3	-1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		141.972	144.159	138.108	-0.3	-2.7	-4.2
Other food at home		181.991	181.718	181.480	0.3	-0.3	-0.1
Food away from home		204.394	-	205.649	3.6	0.6	-
Alcoholic beverages		152.232	-	155.361	1.3	2.1	-
Housing		207.626	-	210.170	2.7	1.2	-
Shelter		225.120	226.915	226.545	2.6	0.6	-0.2
Rent of primary residence		239.034	239.585	238.796	2.7	-0.1	-0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		218.675	219.716	220.294	2.1	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		218.675	219.716	220.294	2.1	0.7	0.3
Fuels and utilities		199.676	-	214.949	7.2	7.6	-
Household energy		193.076	213.859	214.284	6.6	11.0	0.2
Energy services		193.103	214.130	214.612	6.9	11.1	0.2
Electricity		201.647	226.439	226.777	8.0	12.5	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service		153.264	152.681	154.072	0.8	0.5	0.9
Household furnishings and operations		116.909	-	117.459	0.0	0.5	-
Apparel		154.565	-	152.762	7.0	-1.2	-
Transportation		158.604	-	154.225	-3.0	-2.8	-
Private transportation		162.209	-	157.830	-4.0	-2.7	-
New and used motor vehicles		112.159	-	111.401	-2.8	-0.7	-
New vehicles		111.247	-	110.959	-2.2	-0.3	-
Used cars and trucks		108.258	-	109.035	-9.3	0.7	-
Motor fuel		353.493	337.810	311.466	-15.5	-11.9	-7.8
Gasoline (all types)		355.593	339.518	312.064	-15.2	-12.2	-8.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		359.054	342.042	313.469	-15.7	-12.7	-8.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		368.628	353.738	326.712	-14.0	-11.4	-7.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		348.473	335.394	311.483	-13.2	-10.6	-7.1
Medical care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		128.924	-	126.435	5.2	-1.9	-
Education and communication		120.101	-	119.027	2.8	-0.9	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		175.255	-	189.066	11.3	7.9	-
Commodity and service group
All items		184.462	-	185.108	2.7	0.4	-
Commodities		149.043	-	147.131	-1.6	-1.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages		129.810	-	127.127	-3.8	-2.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		183.951	-	177.605	-3.0	-3.4	-
Durables		86.946	-	86.640	-4.9	-0.4	-
Services		209.746	-	212.102	5.1	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		181.536	-	181.974	2.2	0.2	-
All items less shelter		164.138	-	164.418	2.8	0.2	-
Commodities less food		130.663	-	128.264	-3.6	-1.8	-
Nondurables		186.837	-	183.791	-0.2	-1.6	-
Nondurables less food		181.080	-	175.797	-2.8	-2.9	-
Services less rent of shelter		189.450	-	192.793	9.3	1.8	-
Services less medical care services		206.614	-	208.963	4.4	1.1	-
Energy		268.307	274.527	263.680	-5.6	-1.7	-4.0
All items less energy		179.760	-	180.646	3.3	0.5	-
All items less food and energy		177.867	-	178.934	3.4	0.6	-
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.