Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), crept up 0.2 percent for the two months ending in August 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 5.1 percent. Food prices rose 2.7 percent. Energy prices jumped 16.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices decreased 0.8 percent for the two months ending in August. Prices for food away from home declined 2.6 percent. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.1 percent. Higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.3 percent) were largely offset by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (1.6 percent) for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 2.7 percent. Prices for food at home rose 3.3 percent since a year ago. Price increases were similar across all sub-categories except for a smaller increase for dairy and related products (0.4 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 2.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.2 percent for the two months ending in August. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (2.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 1.4 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 0.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 16.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (31.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 30.8 percent, and prices for electricity increased 0.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (2.1 percent) and shelter (1.6 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-2.4 percent) and other goods and services (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (6.9 percent) and shelter (6.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were lower prices for motor vehicle insurance (-3.0 percent).

The October 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2021.

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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

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