Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.3 percent for the two months ending in August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August decrease was influenced by lower prices for other goods and services 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 rose 2.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.7 percent. Energy prices declined 7.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Aug 2024	2.3	3.2

Food prices advanced 1.4 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.7 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.1 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.6 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 2.5 percent.

The energy index decreased 2.4 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.3 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.3 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 7.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 4.7 percent, while prices paid for electricity increased 6.9 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for other goods and services (-7.0 percent) and recreation (-3.4 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.8 percent) and other goods and services (2.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-2.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent).

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on November 13, 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	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Aug. 2023	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		185.108	-	184.474	2.3	-0.3	-
Food and beverages		187.776	-	189.919	1.5	1.1	-
Food		190.700	-	193.373	1.7	1.4	-
Food at home		182.606	187.092	186.561	1.1	2.2	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		237.705	249.983	245.502	-0.9	3.3	-1.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		216.276	220.842	221.140	4.6	2.2	0.1
Dairy and related products		143.147	151.476	149.491	1.5	4.4	-1.3
Fruits and vegetables		162.736	165.289	163.128	2.3	0.2	-1.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		138.108	142.151	145.894	2.8	5.6	2.6
Other food at home		181.480	182.562	182.331	-2.1	0.5	-0.1
Food away from home		205.649	-	206.301	2.5	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		155.361	-	153.245	-0.7	-1.4	-
Housing		210.170	-	211.071	3.5	0.4	-
Shelter		226.545	226.008	227.471	3.8	0.4	0.6
Rent of primary residence		238.796	241.527	241.212	3.3	1.0	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		220.294	222.116	222.915	3.2	1.2	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		220.294	222.116	222.915	3.2	1.2	0.4
Fuels and utilities		214.949	-	217.073	5.6	1.0	-
Household energy		214.284	218.825	216.881	5.1	1.2	-0.9
Energy services		214.612	219.146	217.175	5.3	1.2	-0.9
Electricity		226.777	232.085	229.766	6.9	1.3	-1.0
Utility (piped) gas service		154.072	154.168	154.196	-4.7	0.1	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		117.459	-	117.509	-0.7	0.0	-
Apparel		152.762	-	155.304	3.7	1.7	-
Transportation		154.225	-	151.240	-3.6	-1.9	-
Private transportation		157.830	-	155.536	-4.5	-1.5	-
New and used motor vehicles		111.401	-	111.356	-2.3	0.0	-
New vehicles		110.959	-	110.577	-2.4	-0.3	-
Used cars and trucks		109.035	-	107.234	-10.4	-1.7	-
Motor fuel		311.466	295.210	292.489	-18.7	-6.1	-0.9
Gasoline (all types)		312.064	295.316	292.405	-18.4	-6.3	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		313.469	296.055	293.034	-19.1	-6.5	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		326.712	309.978	307.028	-16.9	-6.0	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		311.483	296.870	294.313	-15.6	-5.5	-0.9
Medical care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		126.435	-	122.198	-0.9	-3.4	-
Education and communication		119.027	-	117.438	-0.4	-1.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		-	-	231.959	-1.7	-	-
Other goods and services		189.066	-	175.768	2.5	-7.0	-
Commodity and service group
All items		185.108	-	184.474	2.3	-0.3	-
Commodities		147.131	-	146.363	-2.5	-0.5	-
Commodities less food & beverages		127.127	-	125.075	-5.1	-1.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		177.605	-	173.079	-6.1	-2.5	-
Durables		86.640	-	86.213	-4.2	-0.5	-
Services		212.102	-	211.550	5.0	-0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		181.974	-	181.260	1.6	-0.4	-
All items less shelter		164.418	-	163.065	1.3	-0.8	-
Commodities less food		128.264	-	126.212	-4.9	-1.6	-
Nondurables		183.791	-	182.812	-1.9	-0.5	-
Nondurables less food		175.797	-	171.529	-5.7	-2.4	-
Services less rent of shelter		192.793	-	190.523	7.1	-1.2	-
Services less medical care services		208.963	-	208.171	4.0	-0.4	-
Energy		263.680	259.629	257.281	-7.8	-2.4	-0.9
All items less energy		180.646	-	180.279	2.9	-0.2	-
All items less food and energy		178.934	-	178.176	3.2	-0.4	-
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.