Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The May increase was influenced by higher prices for 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 increased 3.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 2.7 percent. Energy prices advanced 5.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)  

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, West region, May 2021–May 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
May 2021	4.7	3.3
Jun 2021	5.1	4.1
Jul 2021	5.2	3.9
Aug 2021	5.0	3.8
Sep 2021	5.3	4.0
Oct 2021	6.0	4.5
Nov 2021	6.5	4.8
Dec 2021	7.1	5.5
Jan 2022	7.7	6.2
Feb 2022	8.1	6.7
Mar 2022	8.7	6.8
Apr 2022	8.3	6.4
May 2022	8.3	6.2
Jun 2022	8.8	6.2
Jul 2022	8.3	6.3
Aug 2022	8.1	6.7
Sep 2022	8.3	6.8
Oct 2022	8.1	6.4
Nov 2022	7.1	6.0
Dec 2022	6.2	5.7
Jan 2023	6.3	5.6
Feb 2023	6.0	5.3
Mar 2023	5.1	5.5
Apr 2023	4.9	5.4
May 2023	4.5	5.3
Jun 2023	3.5	4.7
Jul 2023	3.5	4.3
Aug 2023	3.9	4.1
Sep 2023	3.9	3.9
Oct 2023	3.3	3.7
Nov 2023	3.3	3.7
Dec 2023	3.6	3.7
Jan 2024	3.3	3.7
Feb 2024	3.2	3.6
Mar 2024	3.6	3.8
Apr 2024	3.7	3.6
May 2024	3.3	3.3

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the month of May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.3 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories.  Prices for food away from home increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.7 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (3.7 percent). Overall, prices rose in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 4.2 percent.

The energy index fell 0.6 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 4.2 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 1.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 5.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (10.0 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 5.1 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 3.1 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in May. Higher prices for medical care (0.6 percent) and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.2 percent) and recreation (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.6 percent) and medical care (4.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-3.3 percent) and apparel (-2.0 percent).

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

The Consumer Price Index for the West Region is published monthly. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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, 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	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	May 2024	May 2023	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024
Expenditure category
All Items		332.202	334.050	334.292	3.3	0.6	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)		536.985	539.974	540.365	-	-	-
Food and beverages		339.395	340.325	341.331	2.7	0.6	0.3
Food		341.817	342.695	343.696	2.7	0.5	0.3
Food at home		319.813	320.076	321.106	1.9	0.4	0.3
Cereals and bakery products		332.141	331.987	335.515	1.6	1.0	1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		345.699	344.964	348.228	3.7	0.7	0.9
Dairy and related products		281.995	285.323	284.631	-0.4	0.9	-0.2
Fruits and vegetables		402.686	403.472	406.886	2.5	1.0	0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		227.413	225.817	223.598	0.8	-1.7	-1.0
Other food at home		276.701	277.448	277.123	1.5	0.2	-0.1
Food away from home		372.804	374.678	375.619	4.2	0.8	0.3
Alcoholic beverages		302.306	304.043	305.108	2.5	0.9	0.4
Housing		372.494	372.998	374.002	4.3	0.4	0.3
Shelter		427.898	429.234	430.072	4.6	0.5	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)		453.744	455.275	456.512	4.6	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		449.733	450.645	451.211	4.5	0.3	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		449.520	450.426	450.989	4.5	0.3	0.1
Fuels and utilities		428.399	424.330	429.018	7.7	0.1	1.1
Household energy		378.042	372.663	378.549	8.7	0.1	1.6
Energy services(1)		381.722	376.143	382.253	9.0	0.1	1.6
Electricity(1)		423.507	423.523	427.593	10.0	1.0	1.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		304.173	283.454	295.428	5.1	-2.9	4.2
Household furnishings and operations		158.610	158.001	158.247	-0.1	-0.2	0.2
Apparel		126.490	127.308	125.766	-2.0	-0.6	-1.2
Transportation		283.470	290.292	288.932	4.0	1.9	-0.5
Private transportation		281.561	287.904	285.990	4.0	1.6	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)		123.292	123.480	123.652	-3.3	0.3	0.1
New vehicles		175.886	175.725	175.466	-1.3	-0.2	-0.1
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		174.219	173.450	173.596	-1.7	-0.4	0.1
Used cars and trucks		173.451	172.840	173.701	-9.1	0.1	0.5
Motor fuel		352.928	380.778	372.481	2.7	5.5	-2.2
Gasoline (all types)		351.399	380.052	371.875	3.1	5.8	-2.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		347.261	376.087	367.756	3.0	5.9	-2.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		336.200	362.517	355.141	3.3	5.6	-2.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		345.824	372.242	365.070	3.5	5.6	-1.9
Medical Care		601.396	603.789	607.285	4.4	1.0	0.6
Medical care commodities		462.859	466.995	474.853	5.0	2.6	1.7
Medical care services		644.263	646.090	648.180	4.2	0.6	0.3
Professional services		419.662	421.019	422.268	5.3	0.6	0.3
Recreation(3)		131.678	132.093	131.285	0.5	-0.3	-0.6
Education and communication(3)		144.061	144.366	144.024	0.4	0.0	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,661.627	1,667.367	1,671.739	1.4	0.6	0.3
Other goods and services		540.609	543.066	545.289	1.4	0.9	0.4
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		332.202	334.050	334.292	3.3	0.6	0.1
Commodities		227.316	229.448	229.025	0.2	0.8	-0.2
Commodities less food & beverages		174.595	177.034	176.128	-1.3	0.9	-0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages		233.372	239.535	237.767	0.6	1.9	-0.7
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		308.373	318.213	316.269	1.4	2.6	-0.6
Durables		123.402	123.417	123.104	-3.4	-0.2	-0.3
Services		429.895	431.410	432.318	5.2	0.6	0.2
Rent of shelter(2)		456.298	457.718	458.622	4.6	0.5	0.2
Transportation services		420.768	426.880	427.430	13.1	1.6	0.1
Other services		412.604	414.136	413.198	1.9	0.1	-0.2
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		319.781	321.601	321.705	3.2	0.6	0.0
All items less food		330.802	332.797	332.925	3.4	0.6	0.0
All items less shelter		294.462	296.549	296.538	2.6	0.7	0.0
Commodities less food		179.320	181.771	180.897	-1.1	0.9	-0.5
Nondurables		286.292	290.006	289.550	1.7	1.1	-0.2
Nondurables less food		238.733	244.708	243.076	0.8	1.8	-0.7
Nondurables less food and apparel		307.333	316.467	314.782	1.5	2.4	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)		444.748	446.574	447.594	6.1	0.6	0.2
Services less medical care services		414.778	416.270	417.098	5.3	0.6	0.2
Energy		371.030	385.035	382.721	5.4	3.2	-0.6
All items less energy		332.425	333.541	333.942	3.2	0.5	0.1
All items less food and energy		331.689	332.846	333.150	3.3	0.4	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities		160.697	160.780	160.601	-2.1	-0.1	-0.1
Energy commodities		359.238	387.135	378.803	2.6	5.4	-2.2
Services less energy services		434.473	436.356	437.004	5.1	0.6	0.1
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.