Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the January increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (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 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 2.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.4 percent for the month of January. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 1.1 percent, but prices for food at home declined 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.0 percent. Prices for food away from home moved up 4.8 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home decreased 0.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 2.7 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 0.9 percent, and prices for electricity decreased 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 2.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (21.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 1.1 percent, and prices for gasoline rose 0.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.0 percent in January. Higher prices were noted for apparel (5.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.4 percent), and shelter (0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent), other goods and services (4.0 percent), and medical care (1.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in new vehicles (-0.7 percent) and recreation (-0.5 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	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2
February	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6
March	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8
April	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0
May	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1
June	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0
July	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9
August	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9
September	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9
October	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1
November	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6
December	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2

The February 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area is scheduled to be released on March 12, 2019.

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-
	Nov. 2018	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019	Jan. 2018	Nov. 2018	Dec. 2018
Expenditure category
All items	268.560	267.631	269.468	3.2	0.3	0.7
All items (1967=100)	793.446	790.700	796.129	-	-	-
Food and beverages	261.228	261.875	263.128	1.9	0.7	0.5
Food	261.629	262.476	263.610	2.0	0.8	0.4
Food at home	253.093	254.461	253.860	-0.7	0.3	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products	265.799	267.239	266.787	1.3	0.4	-0.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	278.024	280.729	273.811	0.7	-1.5	-2.5
Dairy and related products	240.482	242.143	241.170	0.4	0.3	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables	337.767	336.731	339.832	-5.3	0.6	0.9
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	259.688	260.932	265.622	4.0	2.3	1.8
Other food at home	195.746	197.268	197.640	-2.1	1.0	0.2
Food away from home	267.031	267.322	270.248	4.8	1.2	1.1
Food away from home	267.031	267.322	270.248	4.8	1.2	1.1
Alcoholic beverages	239.931	237.875	240.653	1.2	0.3	1.2
Housing	305.329	306.739	309.193	5.0	1.3	0.8
Shelter	352.139	353.056	355.952	5.4	1.1	0.8
Rent of primary residence(2)	372.992	374.865	375.935	5.1	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	366.574	367.831	369.294	4.9	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	366.553	367.809	369.273	4.9	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	321.352	329.083	328.241	4.6	2.1	-0.3
Household energy	274.505	284.067	282.486	5.9	2.9	-0.6
Energy services(2)	273.276	282.974	281.164	5.9	2.9	-0.6
Electricity(2)	319.592	319.592	317.874	1.1	-0.5	-0.5
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	214.830	245.309	243.082	21.1	13.2	-0.9
Household furnishings and operations	117.857	118.987	120.705	2.0	2.4	1.4
Apparel	107.913	103.518	108.962	2.6	1.0	5.3
Transportation	215.680	209.970	209.141	1.0	-3.0	-0.4
Private transportation	212.739	208.021	206.710	1.5	-2.8	-0.6
New and used motor vehicles(4)	91.525	91.518	92.091	-0.2	0.6	0.6
New vehicles(1)	168.836	170.223	171.896	-0.7	1.8	1.0
Used cars and trucks(1)	265.900	266.041	267.062	1.3	0.4	0.4
Motor fuel	281.614	264.008	253.550	0.6	-10.0	-4.0
Gasoline (all types)	275.024	257.773	247.517	0.6	-10.0	-4.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	275.743	258.279	247.851	0.6	-10.1	-4.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	264.453	248.378	238.913	1.2	-9.7	-3.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	261.426	245.834	236.805	0.6	-9.4	-3.7
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	782.657	774.857	774.857	5.1	-1.0	0.0
Medical care	473.339	474.709	481.041	1.2	1.6	1.3
Recreation(6)	108.583	107.717	107.787	-0.5	-0.7	0.1
Education and communication(6)	147.138	146.245	146.179	1.2	-0.7	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,908.743	1,893.973	1,893.973	6.6	-0.8	0.0
Other goods and services	431.331	429.497	432.648	4.0	0.3	0.7
Commodity and service group
All items	268.560	267.631	269.468	3.2	0.3	0.7
Commodities	182.141	180.223	181.312	1.0	-0.5	0.6
Commodities less food & beverages	140.548	137.783	138.740	0.3	-1.3	0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages	192.166	185.434	186.137	1.1	-3.1	0.4
Durables	90.875	91.550	92.675	-0.9	2.0	1.2
Services	345.479	345.417	347.919	4.2	0.7	0.7
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	259.573	258.561	260.220	3.3	0.2	0.6
All items less shelter	231.868	230.095	231.460	1.6	-0.2	0.6
Commodities less food	144.916	142.134	143.151	0.4	-1.2	0.7
Nondurables	228.277	224.768	225.740	1.5	-1.1	0.4
Nondurables less food	197.391	190.821	191.646	1.1	-2.9	0.4
Services less rent of shelter(3)	345.210	343.732	345.710	2.4	0.1	0.6
Services less medical care services	334.097	333.981	336.054	4.4	0.6	0.6
Energy	281.149	272.892	265.455	2.5	-5.6	-2.7
All items less energy	269.851	269.401	271.869	3.2	0.7	0.9
All items less food and energy	271.552	270.898	273.579	3.4	0.7	1.0
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.