Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.1 percent for the two months ending in February 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February increase was influenced by higher prices for apparel. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 4.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.1 percent. Energy prices rose 1.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Alaska, February 2020–February 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2020	-0.3	-0.8
Apr 2020	-2.5	-1.8
Jun 2020	-3.8	-4.3
Aug 2020	-1.5	-2.0
Oct 2020	0.3	0.3
Dec 2020	0.3	0.4
Feb 2021	1.3	1.3
Apr 2021	4.8	3.7
Jun 2021	6.2	6.0
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

Food prices declined 1.3 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 2.6 percent, led by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-5.3 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.0 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 4.4 percent.

The energy index fell 1.4 percent for the two months ending in February. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.1 percent). Prices for electricity increased 0.6 percent, while prices for natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices rose 1.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (4.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 2.5 percent, but prices for gasoline decreased 0.4 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (5.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (2.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.8 percent), education and communication (-0.7 percent), and shelter (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.8 percent) and recreation (6.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-14.3 percent) and education and communication (-3.5 percent).

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage area is scheduled to be released on May 10, 2023.

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	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Feb. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		256.634	-	256.856	4.3	0.1	-
All items (1967=100)		684.991	-	685.585	-	-	-
Food and beverages		256.564	-	253.870	2.3	-1.1	-
Food		266.902	-	263.487	2.1	-1.3	-
Food at home		263.263	257.039	256.454	1.0	-2.6	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products		274.004	-	264.287	-0.5	-3.5	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		242.119	-	237.377	-6.1	-2.0	-
Dairy and related products		254.922	-	254.973	10.8	0.0	-
Fruits and vegetables		405.788	-	384.427	0.8	-5.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		184.395	-	181.182	7.4	-1.7	-
Other food at home		221.476	-	218.114	2.9	-1.5	-
Food away from home		269.937	-	273.851	4.4	1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		158.446	-	162.203	4.2	2.4	-
Housing		229.702	-	230.151	6.3	0.2	-
Shelter		233.869	232.486	233.489	7.8	-0.2	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		223.983	224.464	224.413	6.9	0.2	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		236.452	234.988	234.918	8.1	-0.6	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		236.452	234.988	234.918	8.1	-0.6	0.0
Fuels and utilities		350.801	-	353.997	4.2	0.9	-
Household energy		353.572	356.238	355.729	3.3	0.6	-0.1
Energy services		392.574	393.862	393.862	3.3	0.3	0.0
Electricity		327.825	329.850	329.850	4.1	0.6	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		478.719	478.719	478.719	2.5	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		142.916	-	145.773	-0.2	2.0	-
Apparel		148.910	-	156.861	1.6	5.3	-
Transportation		276.390	-	275.166	3.1	-0.4	-
Private transportation		288.099	-	285.104	2.2	-1.0	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		133.315	-	132.676	-0.9	-0.5	-
New vehicles(1)		276.132	-	280.548	7.4	1.6	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		354.418	-	344.378	-14.3	-2.8	-
Motor fuel		326.591	315.122	315.329	0.1	-3.4	0.1
Gasoline (all types)		324.804	314.155	314.647	-0.4	-3.1	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		312.289	301.953	302.684	-0.6	-3.1	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		315.039	304.872	304.243	0.9	-3.4	-0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		334.225	323.676	323.165	0.4	-3.3	-0.2
Medical care		706.705	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation(3)		139.897	-	140.424	6.6	0.4	-
Education and communication(3)		113.024	-	112.181	-3.5	-0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		774.522	-	774.489	1.3	0.0	-
Other goods and services		404.242	-	412.377	4.2	2.0	-
Commodity and service group
All items		256.634	-	256.856	4.3	0.1	-
Commodities		211.768	-	210.818	0.5	-0.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages		188.938	-	189.170	-0.3	0.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		237.885	-	240.105	1.6	0.9	-
Durables		147.088	-	145.979	-2.1	-0.8	-
Services		294.803	-	296.318	6.9	0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		241.061	-	241.047	4.1	0.0	-
All items less shelter		265.862	-	266.387	2.7	0.2	-
Commodities less food		187.824	-	188.293	-0.1	0.2	-
Nondurables		248.542	-	247.673	1.8	-0.3	-
Nondurables less food		231.510	-	234.015	1.8	1.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		393.716	-	398.967	6.0	1.3	-
Services less medical care services		270.278	-	271.249	7.1	0.4	-
Energy		338.919	334.172	334.039	1.8	-1.4	0.0
All items less energy		252.189	-	252.692	4.4	0.2	-
All items less food and energy		249.989	-	251.516	5.0	0.6	-
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.