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News Release Information

23-514-SAN
Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area — February 2023

Area prices were up 1.2 percent over the past two months, up 8.5 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in February 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and food. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 8.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 10.1 percent. Energy prices decreased 2.2 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 9.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 2.7 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 4.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 10.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 8.6 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 3.9 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 14.6 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home advanced 12.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 1.0 percent for the two months ending in February. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.0 percent). Prices for electricity declined 0.2 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 7.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 2.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity declined 2.1 percent, but prices for natural gas service rose 14.3 percent during the past year).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (5.8 percent), recreation (3.0 percent), and shelter (2.0 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent), and medical care (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 9.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (16.1 percent), other goods and services (8.4 percent), and household furnishings and operations (8.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-13.1 percent) and education and communication (-1.6 percent).

Table A. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

-0.3 2.1 0.6 4.4 1.0 1.0 2.1 10.9 1.2 8.5

April

1.4 2.3 -1.4 1.5 2.4 4.9 2.5 11.0

June

1.0 2.2 1.5 2.0 1.9 5.4 3.1 12.3

August

0.5 3.0 0.4 1.8 0.2 5.1 0.8 13.0

October

1.4 3.8 0.3 0.7 2.2 7.1 1.4 12.1

December

-0.6 3.4 -0.8 0.5 1.7 9.7 -0.7 9.5

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on May 10, 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 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

Indexes Percent change from-
Historical
data
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023
Feb.
2023
Feb.
2022
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023

Expenditure category

All items

175.019 - 177.118 8.5 1.2 -

Food and beverages

180.605 - 185.120 9.8 2.5 -

Food

183.113 - 188.059 10.1 2.7 -

Food at home

179.806 181.502 183.177 8.6 1.9 0.9

Cereals and bakery products

229.000 - 236.654 14.6 3.3 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

221.794 - 221.344 3.9 -0.2 -

Dairy and related products

151.986 - 147.937 7.0 -2.7 -

Fruits and vegetables

153.407 - 155.464 6.9 1.3 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

130.530 - 140.726 6.6 7.8 -

Other food at home

178.558 - 182.781 12.2 2.4 -

Food away from home

190.016 - 197.658 12.3 4.0 -

Alcoholic beverages

153.531 - 153.131 6.1 -0.3 -

Housing

195.435 - 198.429 14.1 1.5 -

Shelter

210.945 212.663 215.239 16.1 2.0 1.2

Rent of primary residence

225.420 227.174 229.687 19.5 1.9 1.1

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

209.839 211.639 213.012 15.3 1.5 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

209.839 211.639 213.012 15.3 1.5 0.6

Fuels and utilities

179.001 - 179.915 3.6 0.5 -

Household energy

172.635 172.193 173.373 -0.3 0.4 0.7

Energy services

171.974 171.342 172.683 -0.3 0.4 0.8

Electricity

178.936 178.190 178.530 -2.1 -0.2 0.2

Utility (piped) gas service

137.799 137.994 147.484 14.3 7.0 6.9

Household furnishings and operations

118.502 - 116.547 8.1 -1.6 -

Apparel

142.771 - 150.993 3.1 5.8 -

Transportation

152.453 - 150.637 -0.5 -1.2 -

Private transportation

156.819 - 155.042 -0.9 -1.1 -

New and used motor vehicles

111.740 - 110.100 - -1.5 -

New vehicles

111.698 - 112.629 - 0.8 -

Used cars and trucks

115.509 - 111.367 -13.1 -3.6 -

Motor fuel

310.672 295.702 304.123 -3.8 -2.1 2.8

Gasoline (all types)

307.566 292.689 301.355 -4.8 -2.0 3.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

309.031 294.025 303.254 -4.9 -1.9 3.1

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

322.648 305.342 313.107 -4.7 -3.0 2.5

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

306.268 291.832 298.484 -4.1 -2.5 2.3

Medical care

216.717 - 214.343 - -1.1 -

Recreation

126.186 - 129.937 1.3 3.0 -

Education and communication

118.733 - 117.865 -1.6 -0.7 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

221.088 - 223.710 - 1.2 -

Other goods and services

170.235 - 173.711 8.4 2.0 -

Commodity and service group

All items

175.019 - 177.118 8.5 1.2 -

Commodities

145.681 - 146.706 2.9 0.7 -

Commodities less food & beverages

128.266 - 127.715 -0.8 -0.4 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

172.148 - 174.680 1.4 1.5 -

Durables

91.442 - 89.280 -3.1 -2.4 -

Services

195.554 - 198.468 11.9 1.5 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

172.799 - 175.184 8.8 1.4 -

All items less shelter

157.062 - 158.070 3.9 0.6 -

Commodities less food

129.315 - 128.768 -0.6 -0.4 -

Nondurables

177.293 - 180.915 6.0 2.0 -

Nondurables less food

170.795 - 173.075 1.7 1.3 -

Services less rent of shelter

175.239 - 176.177 5.4 0.5 -

Services less medical care services

193.518 - 197.065 12.6 1.8 -

Energy

237.438 230.904 235.160 -2.2 -1.0 1.8

All items less energy

171.361 - 173.642 9.3 1.3 -

All items less food and energy

169.466 - 171.339 9.1 1.1 -

Footnotes
(1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023