Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.3 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the July increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and medical care. (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 rose 2.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices rose 0.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy moved up 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home advanced 1.0 percent, and prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices moved up 2.1 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 4.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.8 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 2.7 percent, but prices for electricity inched up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 0.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (1.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 0.5 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 2.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in July. Higher prices for medical care (1.1 percent), education and communication (0.9 percent), and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.1 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (6.9 percent) and shelter (4.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in apparel (-3.4 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.8	2.1	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1
February	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7
March	1.0	2.0	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7
April	0.0	1.5	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7
May	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5
June	-0.4	1.6	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2
July	-0.1	1.9	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5
August	0.6	2.3	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4
September	0.4	2.2	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9
October	0.8	3.0	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2
November	-1.0	2.1	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8
December	-0.7	1.9	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0

The August 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2017.

Technical Note

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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 Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2017	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017	Jul. 2016	May 2017	Jun. 2017
Expenditure category
All items	255.674	255.275	256.023	2.5	0.1	0.3
All items (1967=100)	755.374	754.196	756.405	-	-	-
Food and beverages	255.381	254.967	256.155	2.0	0.3	0.5
Food	255.493	255.158	256.524	2.1	0.4	0.5
Food at home	254.910	254.284	254.786	0.2	0.0	0.2
Food away from home	252.373	252.400	254.810	4.5	1.0	1.0
Alcoholic beverages	238.612	237.086	235.649	0.5	-1.2	-0.6
Housing	287.251	286.879	288.012	3.7	0.3	0.4
Shelter	328.269	328.422	330.223	4.2	0.6	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)	345.534	347.260	348.898	5.2	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	340.230	341.146	343.386	4.3	0.9	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	340.212	341.127	343.367	4.3	0.9	0.7
Fuels and utilities	313.977	307.089	305.844	1.5	-2.6	-0.4
Household energy	273.174	264.173	262.398	-1.4	-3.9	-0.7
Energy services(1)	272.069	262.828	261.037	-1.5	-4.1	-0.7
Electricity(1)	305.923	290.451	290.636	-2.2	-5.0	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	241.258	244.489	237.957	0.5	-1.4	-2.7
Household furnishings and operations	116.614	116.951	116.628	1.6	0.0	-0.3
Apparel	108.252	105.976	104.844	-3.4	-3.1	-1.1
Transportation	199.023	198.722	196.789	1.3	-1.1	-1.0
Private transportation	193.841	193.968	192.507	1.4	-0.7	-0.8
Motor fuel	233.161	229.595	223.750	1.5	-4.0	-2.5
Gasoline (all types)	228.118	224.607	218.844	1.4	-4.1	-2.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	228.362	224.833	218.910	1.3	-4.1	-2.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	219.655	216.145	210.910	1.5	-4.0	-2.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	218.704	215.447	210.705	2.1	-3.7	-2.2
Medical care	469.064	469.507	474.778	2.2	1.2	1.1
Recreation(5)	107.409	106.535	107.220	0.2	-0.2	0.6
Education and communication(5)	142.072	142.449	143.696	0.1	1.1	0.9
Other goods and services	407.766	411.935	416.736	6.9	2.2	1.2
Commodity and service group
All items	255.674	255.275	256.023	2.5	0.1	0.3
Commodities	176.772	175.949	175.886	1.1	-0.5	0.0
Commodities less food & beverages	135.747	134.801	134.231	0.5	-1.1	-0.4
Nondurables less food & beverages	178.261	176.649	175.941	1.2	-1.3	-0.4
Durables	94.064	93.774	93.340	-0.9	-0.8	-0.5
Services	325.895	325.878	327.351	3.2	0.4	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	246.421	245.992	246.563	2.5	0.1	0.2
All items less shelter	223.918	223.265	223.536	1.4	-0.2	0.1
Commodities less food	140.145	139.171	138.572	0.5	-1.1	-0.4
Nondurables	217.737	216.640	216.790	1.6	-0.4	0.1
Nondurables less food	183.971	182.339	181.583	1.2	-1.3	-0.4
Services less rent of shelter(2)	331.578	331.309	332.326	1.7	0.2	0.3
Services less medical care services	313.692	313.671	314.998	3.3	0.4	0.4
Energy	249.385	243.719	239.415	0.2	-4.0	-1.8
All items less energy	258.090	258.085	259.220	2.7	0.4	0.4
All items less food and energy	258.872	258.924	260.020	2.8	0.4	0.4
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) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.