Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

23-2444-SAN
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, Los Angeles area — October 2023

Area prices were down 0.1 percent over the past month, up 2.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.1 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the October decrease was influenced by recreation and 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 advanced 2.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.0 percent. Energy prices declined 1.1 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the month of October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.1 percent, led by higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (2.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.0 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.2 percent since a year ago with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-5.9 percent). Prices for gasoline declined 0.8 percent, but prices for electricity rose 2.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 1.1 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-5.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service fell 10.7 percent, but prices for electricity rose 10.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.2 percent in October. Lower prices for recreation (-1.4 percent) and shelter (-0.1 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for household furnishings and operations (0.8 percent) and medical care (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (8.6 percent) and shelter (4.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-4.1 percent) and medical care (-1.0 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 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month

January

0.7 3.2 0.8 3.1 0.2 0.9 1.1 7.5 1.9 5.8

February

0.1 2.5 0.3 3.4 0.4 1.0 0.3 7.4 -0.3 5.1

March

0.6 2.7 0.7 1.9 0.5 2.2 1.5 8.5 0.1 3.7

April

1.0 3.3 -0.3 0.7 1.1 3.6 0.5 7.9 0.7 3.8

May

0.2 3.1 0.4 0.9 0.6 3.9 0.8 8.0 0.1 3.2

June

0.0 3.3 0.5 1.4 0.6 4.0 1.1 8.6 0.5 2.5

July

0.1 3.3 0.6 1.9 0.6 3.9 -0.2 7.7 0.0 2.7

August

0.0 3.0 0.1 2.0 0.2 4.0 0.1 7.6 0.7 3.3

September

0.5 3.0 -0.3 1.2 0.3 4.6 0.5 7.8 0.3 3.2

October

0.7 3.2 0.2 0.7 0.9 5.4 0.6 7.5 -0.1 2.4

November

-0.3 3.2 0.1 1.0 0.6 6.0 -0.8 6.0

December

-0.6 3.0 -0.2 1.5 0.4 6.6 -0.6 4.9

The November 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on December 12, 2023.


Technical Note

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

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

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

Indexes Percent change from-
Historical
data
Aug.
2023
Sep.
2023
Oct.
2023
Oct.
2022
Aug.
2023
Sep.
2023

Expenditure category

All items

324.050 324.984 324.545 2.4 0.2 -0.1

All items (1967=100)

957.388 960.148 958.851 - - -

Food and beverages

330.114 329.313 329.443 2.9 -0.2 0.0

Food

331.989 330.984 331.291 3.0 -0.2 0.1

Food at home

318.410 315.910 316.111 1.2 -0.7 0.1

Cereals and bakery products

350.457 346.875 343.071 0.0 -2.1 -1.1

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

345.117 341.089 339.935 0.8 -1.5 -0.3

Dairy and related products

299.145 299.806 302.506 1.3 1.1 0.9

Fruits and vegetables

413.075 410.576 411.934 -0.4 -0.3 0.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

310.546 298.268 305.398 0.1 -1.7 2.4

Other food at home

255.943 257.388 256.165 4.1 0.1 -0.5

Food away from home

341.505 343.020 343.491 5.6 0.6 0.1

Alcoholic beverages

282.904 284.829 282.636 1.9 -0.1 -0.8

Housing

368.480 369.622 369.678 4.0 0.3 0.0

Shelter

420.623 423.036 422.472 4.4 0.4 -0.1

Rent of primary residence(2)

447.648 449.268 450.233 5.3 0.6 0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)

434.944 438.614 438.676 4.4 0.9 0.0

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

434.919 438.589 438.651 4.4 0.9 0.0

Fuels and utilities

472.708 468.205 471.754 6.0 -0.2 0.8

Household energy

427.795 422.365 424.838 5.5 -0.7 0.6

Energy services(2)

426.093 420.641 423.069 5.7 -0.7 0.6

Electricity(2)

487.706 487.759 499.924 10.6 2.5 2.5

Utility (piped) gas service(2)

346.998 328.224 308.824 -10.7 -11.0 -5.9

Household furnishings and operations

131.281 129.811 130.868 -1.2 -0.3 0.8

Apparel

124.088 122.542 121.698 2.6 -1.9 -0.7

Transportation

267.894 272.567 271.497 -3.0 1.3 -0.4

Private transportation

270.235 275.207 273.484 -3.0 1.2 -0.6

New and used motor vehicles(4)

113.742 111.269 110.637 -4.1 -2.7 -0.6

New vehicles(1)

195.700 195.889 195.097 -0.4 -0.3 -0.4

Used cars and trucks(1)

380.049 357.766 353.266 -6.8 -7.0 -1.3

Motor fuel

397.083 436.617 433.139 -5.1 9.1 -0.8

Gasoline (all types)

386.936 425.469 422.091 -5.2 9.1 -0.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

387.990 426.939 423.608 -5.2 9.2 -0.8

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

369.541 406.137 402.734 -5.2 9.0 -0.8

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

369.611 405.244 401.812 -5.1 8.7 -0.8

Medical care

556.071 546.371 547.973 -1.0 -1.5 0.3

Recreation(6)

125.820 125.424 123.666 2.2 -1.7 -1.4

Education and communication(6)

158.154 159.041 157.885 1.5 -0.2 -0.7

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

2,269.579 2,296.557 2,278.167 4.3 0.4 -0.8

Other goods and services

529.462 529.771 532.773 8.6 0.6 0.6

Commodity and service group

All items

324.050 324.984 324.545 2.4 0.2 -0.1

Commodities

220.389 221.330 220.602 -0.6 0.1 -0.3

Commodities less food & beverages

164.318 165.690 164.777 -3.4 0.3 -0.6

Nondurables less food & beverages

232.980 239.225 237.965 -2.4 2.1 -0.5

Durables

102.864 101.943 101.358 -2.9 -1.5 -0.6

Services

415.619 416.501 416.382 3.9 0.2 0.0

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

313.783 315.140 314.621 2.6 0.3 -0.2

All items less shelter

281.314 281.581 281.198 1.1 0.0 -0.1

Commodities less food

169.614 171.020 170.065 -3.2 0.3 -0.6

Nondurables

283.339 286.318 285.702 0.8 0.8 -0.2

Nondurables less food

239.099 245.165 243.832 -2.1 2.0 -0.5

Services less rent of shelter(3)

419.790 418.168 418.816 3.2 -0.2 0.2

Services less medical care services

401.922 403.123 402.957 4.4 0.3 0.0

Energy

411.315 432.517 431.472 -1.1 4.9 -0.2

All items less energy

321.018 320.825 320.417 2.7 -0.2 -0.1

All items less food and energy

319.163 319.091 318.577 2.7 -0.2 -0.2

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2023