Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.1 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 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 1.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 0.5 percent. Energy prices declined 4.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

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

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Jun 2024	2.9	3.2
Aug 2024	1.5	2.4

Food prices advanced 0.2 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.3 percent, led by lower prices for other food at home (-2.2 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-0.5 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 1.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.5 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 0.4 percent since a year ago, with lower prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 2.7 percent.

The energy index decreased 1.9 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 3.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 2.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 4.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 16.0 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 3.5 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.9 percent) and education and communication (0.3 percent) were offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-3.6 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (9.4 percent) and shelter (3.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-7.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.7 percent).

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage 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 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	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Aug. 2023	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		267.559	-	267.313	1.5	-0.1	-
All items (1967=100)		714.153	-	713.494	-	-	-
Food and beverages		261.799	-	262.257	0.7	0.2	-
Food		271.455	-	271.952	0.5	0.2	-
Food at home		259.691	259.583	258.874	-0.4	-0.3	-0.3
Cereals and bakery products		263.499	265.477	262.288	-2.2	-0.5	-1.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		236.549	237.139	237.046	2.1	0.2	0.0
Dairy and related products		243.769	253.354	247.305	-0.3	1.5	-2.4
Fruits and vegetables		400.895	401.647	401.428	-0.7	0.1	-0.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		183.018	185.599	185.228	-2.1	1.2	-0.2
Other food at home		223.332	217.213	218.504	-0.2	-2.2	0.6
Food away from home		292.542	-	296.427	2.7	1.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing		238.316	-	239.822	3.4	0.6	-
Shelter		242.436	242.713	244.715	3.4	0.9	0.8
Rent of primary residence(2)		241.525	242.306	244.124	6.0	1.1	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		244.175	244.224	245.395	4.4	0.5	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		244.175	244.224	245.395	4.4	0.5	0.5
Fuels and utilities		384.355	-	391.765	9.0	1.9	-
Household energy		388.781	398.781	398.072	9.4	2.4	-0.2
Energy services		434.867	446.198	446.198	10.4	2.6	0.0
Electricity		384.580	392.256	392.256	16.0	2.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		491.618	508.833	508.833	3.5	3.5	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		141.660	-	136.520	-2.7	-3.6	-
Apparel		159.113	-	158.163	0.0	-0.6	-
Transportation		285.103	-	279.914	-6.1	-1.8	-
Private transportation		295.185	-	288.833	-5.8	-2.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		125.126	-	122.860	-7.9	-1.8	-
New vehicles(1)		268.207	-	268.013	-3.5	-0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		335.190	-	326.772	-12.8	-2.5	-
Motor fuel		329.164	316.373	310.085	-16.4	-5.8	-2.0
Gasoline (all types)		333.567	319.785	313.222	-16.1	-6.1	-2.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		318.879	305.168	299.266	-17.0	-6.2	-1.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		327.284	313.649	306.317	-14.4	-6.4	-2.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		350.343	338.044	329.710	-12.6	-5.9	-2.5
Medical care		801.985	-	803.081	9.4	0.1	-
Recreation(3)		141.819	-	142.049	2.3	0.2	-
Education and communication(3)		113.363	-	113.667	-0.3	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		806.288	-	819.918	3.7	1.7	-
Other goods and services		515.342	-	512.112	3.7	-0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All items		267.559	-	267.313	1.5	-0.1	-
Commodities		213.190	-	210.370	-2.6	-1.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages		188.424	-	184.175	-4.8	-2.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		250.040	-	243.783	-3.7	-2.5	-
Durables		139.703	-	136.804	-5.0	-2.1	-
Services		315.598	-	318.055	4.5	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		249.648	-	249.371	0.9	-0.1	-
All items less shelter		277.930	-	276.347	0.6	-0.6	-
Commodities less food		187.999	-	183.894	-4.4	-2.2	-
Nondurables		256.392	-	254.072	-1.0	-0.9	-
Nondurables less food		243.863	-	238.198	-3.0	-2.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		437.752	-	440.276	5.9	0.6	-
Services less medical care services		286.853	-	289.367	3.9	0.9	-
Energy		356.775	353.876	349.994	-4.6	-1.9	-1.1
All items less energy		262.715	-	262.848	2.0	0.1	-
All items less food and energy		262.104	-	262.169	2.4	0.0	-
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.