Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), edged up 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the August increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and natural gas service. (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 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices jumped 18.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.2 percent for the month of August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home and prices for food away from home each inched up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.0 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 1.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (16.9 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while prices for gasoline decreased 0.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 18.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (21.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 21.4 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 8.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in August. Higher prices for shelter (0.7 percent) and education and communication (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for medical care (-2.5 percent) and new vehicles (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.1 percent) and education and communication (2.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in medical care (-1.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.5 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5
February	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6
March	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8
April	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0
May	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1
June	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0
July	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9
August	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9
September	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9	0.4	3.1
October	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2	0.4	3.1
November	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6	-0.4	1.8	0.1	3.6
December	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0	0.0	2.0	0.0	3.6

The September 2018 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area is scheduled to be released on October 11, 2018.

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-
	Jun. 2018	Jul. 2018	Aug. 2018	Aug. 2017	Jun. 2018	Jul. 2018
Expenditure category
All items	265.522	266.007	266.665	3.9	0.4	0.2
All items (1967=100)	784.470	785.904	787.846	-	-	-
Food and beverages	258.121	259.476	259.946	1.7	0.7	0.2
Food	258.493	259.767	260.378	1.8	0.7	0.2
Food at home	251.908	254.096	254.722	0.5	1.1	0.2
Cereals and bakery products	265.089	263.179	261.956	-	-1.2	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	276.874	276.583	280.619	-	1.4	1.5
Dairy and related products	230.080	234.972	241.160	-	4.8	2.6
Fruits and vegetables	334.496	344.753	341.279	-	2.0	-1.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	254.932	258.283	265.345	-	4.1	2.7
Other food at home	200.450	200.663	196.676	-	-1.9	-2.0
Food away from home	261.902	262.209	262.795	3.0	0.3	0.2
Food away from home	261.902	262.209	262.795	3.0	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	237.407	239.755	238.324	1.5	0.4	-0.6
Housing	300.801	301.542	303.851	5.0	1.0	0.8
Shelter	346.681	346.981	349.244	5.1	0.7	0.7
Rent of primary residence(2)	363.460	365.169	367.350	4.7	1.1	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	360.277	361.296	362.709	5.1	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	360.256	361.275	362.689	5.1	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	320.494	328.041	338.180	10.6	5.5	3.1
Household energy	274.645	282.590	295.766	12.8	7.7	4.7
Energy services(2)	273.373	281.402	294.652	12.9	7.8	4.7
Electricity(2)	309.886	316.429	316.423	8.9	2.1	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	234.695	246.743	288.393	21.4	22.9	16.9
Household furnishings and operations	115.769	115.972	115.982	-0.5	0.2	0.0
Apparel	105.173	107.346	107.594	1.6	2.3	0.2
Transportation	215.564	213.623	213.054	7.7	-1.2	-0.3
Private transportation	211.801	211.018	210.297	8.2	-0.7	-0.3
New and used motor vehicles(4)	92.013	92.280	92.075	-	0.1	-0.2
New vehicles(1)	169.414	169.010	168.744	-	-0.4	-0.2
Used cars and trucks(1)	268.557	270.549	272.547	-	1.5	0.7
Motor fuel	284.872	280.952	279.252	21.4	-2.0	-0.6
Gasoline (all types)	278.310	274.462	272.792	21.2	-2.0	-0.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	279.017	275.178	273.460	21.4	-2.0	-0.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	267.048	263.459	261.950	21.0	-1.9	-0.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	264.768	260.989	259.618	20.1	-1.9	-0.5
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	758.909	758.909	758.909	-	0.0	0.0
Medical care	479.922	480.464	468.339	-1.3	-2.4	-2.5
Recreation(6)	105.881	105.881	106.369	-0.4	0.5	0.5
Education and communication(6)	144.897	145.628	146.413	2.0	1.0	0.5
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,780.097	1,828.363	1,850.794	-	4.0	1.2
Other goods and services	426.226	428.248	427.913	2.7	0.4	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All items	265.522	266.007	266.665	3.9	0.4	0.2
Commodities	180.949	181.190	181.490	3.0	0.3	0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	140.158	139.961	140.178	3.9	0.0	0.2
Nondurables less food & beverages	191.320	191.669	191.489	7.8	0.1	-0.1
Durables	90.882	90.239	90.777	-2.5	-0.1	0.6
Services	340.805	341.507	342.481	4.3	0.5	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	256.185	256.666	257.804	4.2	0.6	0.4
All items less shelter	229.915	230.487	230.417	3.0	0.2	0.0
Commodities less food	144.464	144.332	144.508	3.8	0.0	0.1
Nondurables	226.376	227.194	227.307	4.6	0.4	0.0
Nondurables less food	196.442	196.905	196.654	7.4	0.1	-0.1
Services less rent of shelter(3)	341.556	342.924	342.052	3.0	0.1	-0.3
Services less medical care services	328.838	329.484	331.367	4.8	0.8	0.6
Energy	283.343	283.532	287.009	18.0	1.3	1.2
All items less energy	266.441	266.950	267.425	3.0	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	268.094	268.484	268.939	3.2	0.3	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) Index is 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.