Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.3 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the September decrease was influenced by lower prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. (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 1.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent over the year. Food prices rose 4.2 percent. Energy prices declined 7.3 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged for the month of September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent, led by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs (-2.3 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.2 percent. Prices for food at home increased 3.2 percent, influenced by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (5.2 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 5.1 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (0.8 percent). Prices for electricity edged down 0.1 percent, while natural gas service prices were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices declined 7.3 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-15.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 14.2 percent, and prices for electricity rose 6.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.4 percent in September. Lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.8 percent) and shelter (-0.3 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for apparel (3.5 percent) and medical care (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (6.1 percent) and shelter (2.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-3.0) and household furnishings and operations (-2.9 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1
February	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4
March	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9
April	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7
May	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9
June	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4
July	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3	0.6	1.9
August	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0	0.1	2.0
September	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0	-0.3	1.2
October	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2
November	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2
December	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0

The October 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on November 12, 2020.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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-Long Beach-Anaheim. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles and Orange 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-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jul. 2020	Aug. 2020	Sep. 2020	Sep. 2019	Jul. 2020	Aug. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	279.899	280.116	279.366	1.2	-0.2	-0.3
All items (1967=100)	826.946	827.588	825.370	-	-	-
Food and beverages	279.461	280.291	280.194	4.5	0.3	0.0
Food	280.204	280.676	280.609	4.2	0.1	0.0
Food at home	265.709	266.554	264.757	3.2	-0.4	-0.7
Cereals and bakery products	275.677	276.742	279.528	2.3	1.4	1.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	295.628	300.468	293.475	5.2	-0.7	-2.3
Dairy and related products	256.966	258.292	264.571	8.0	3.0	2.4
Fruits and vegetables	363.937	358.768	358.118	3.8	-1.6	-0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	264.679	265.168	263.847	2.3	-0.3	-0.5
Other food at home	200.909	201.754	198.226	-0.6	-1.3	-1.7
Food away from home	291.494	291.598	293.217	5.1	0.6	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	250.624	255.566	255.132	7.4	1.8	-0.2
Housing	326.919	326.442	325.431	2.2	-0.5	-0.3
Shelter	377.002	376.498	375.451	2.3	-0.4	-0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)	400.287	399.595	399.559	2.6	-0.2	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	392.021	392.128	391.998	2.7	0.0	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	391.998	392.106	391.975	2.7	0.0	0.0
Fuels and utilities	356.211	355.981	355.796	6.9	-0.1	-0.1
Household energy	308.821	308.539	308.311	8.2	-0.2	-0.1
Energy services(2)	307.536	307.244	307.037	8.3	-0.2	-0.1
Electricity(2)	347.185	347.185	346.838	6.2	-0.1	-0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	267.355	266.427	266.479	14.2	-0.3	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	122.514	122.081	120.996	-2.9	-1.2	-0.9
Apparel	105.437	108.784	112.550	0.2	6.7	3.5
Transportation	202.731	203.755	203.106	-6.7	0.2	-0.3
Private transportation	201.397	202.833	201.449	-6.2	0.0	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(4)	89.794	89.904	88.250	-3.0	-1.7	-1.8
New vehicles(1)	170.138	169.966	169.256	0.3	-0.5	-0.4
Used cars and trucks(1)	269.844	285.349	290.562	9.3	7.7	1.8
Motor fuel	238.014	243.443	245.315	-15.6	3.1	0.8
Gasoline (all types)	232.451	237.788	239.630	-15.7	3.1	0.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	231.515	236.984	238.628	-16.0	3.1	0.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	224.835	230.383	232.920	-15.2	3.6	1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	227.498	232.088	234.518	-13.7	3.1	1.0
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	786.324	786.324	763.114	-1.9	-3.0	-3.0
Medical care	511.623	507.625	509.253	6.1	-0.5	0.3
Recreation(6)	105.458	105.364	103.605	-0.5	-1.8	-1.7
Education and communication(6)	150.956	151.748	150.811	1.0	-0.1	-0.6
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,969.854	1,984.396	1,970.899	0.5	0.1	-0.7
Other goods and services	459.519	453.984	442.513	-0.1	-3.7	-2.5
Commodity and service group
All items	279.899	280.116	279.366	1.2	-0.2	-0.3
Commodities	183.933	185.074	185.529	-0.4	0.9	0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	135.234	136.484	137.177	-4.3	1.4	0.5
Nondurables less food & beverages	181.290	183.102	183.867	-6.4	1.4	0.4
Durables	90.243	90.972	91.562	-0.8	1.5	0.6
Services	365.455	364.748	362.827	1.9	-0.7	-0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	269.884	270.249	269.419	0.9	-0.2	-0.3
All items less shelter	237.153	237.676	237.055	0.5	0.0	-0.3
Commodities less food	140.211	141.600	142.258	-3.6	1.5	0.5
Nondurables	231.556	232.884	233.221	-0.3	0.7	0.1
Nondurables less food	188.202	190.263	190.947	-5.1	1.5	0.4
Services less rent of shelter(3)	358.530	357.515	354.295	1.4	-1.2	-0.9
Services less medical care services	351.878	351.370	349.322	1.5	-0.7	-0.6
Energy	264.930	268.363	269.500	-7.3	1.7	0.4
All items less energy	283.124	283.128	282.244	1.8	-0.3	-0.3
All items less food and energy	283.839	283.752	282.712	1.4	-0.4	-0.4
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.