Prices in the Seattle Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.8 percent for the two months ending in June 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the June 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 3.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices rose 5.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.1 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home inched up 0.1 percent, and prices for food at home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 2.8 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.8 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 2.5 percent, and prices for electricity moved up 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 5.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (6.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 4.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 2.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (9.8 percent) and shelter (1.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent) and medical care (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (7.1 percent) and shelter (6.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-4.5 percent) and recreation (-3.8 percent).

Table A. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U bi-monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual	Bi-monthly	Annual
February	0.4	2.7	0.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	0.2	1.1	0.2	2.2	1.0	3.4
April	0.9	2.9	0.4	1.2	1.6	2.4	0.9	0.4	1.1	2.5	0.8	3.1
June	0.7	2.7	0.8	1.4	0.4	2.0	1.6	1.6	0.9	1.8	0.8	3.0
August	0.3	2.7	0.0	1.1	-0.2	1.8	0.0	1.8	0.3	2.1
October	0.5	2.3	0.0	0.6	0.3	2.1	-0.3	1.2	0.0	2.4
December	-1.4	1.4	-0.7	1.3	-1.1	1.7	-0.2	2.2	0.0	2.6

The August 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2017.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Apr. 2017	May 2017	Jun. 2017	Jun. 2016	Apr. 2017	May 2017
Expenditure category
All items	261.560	-	263.756	3.0	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)	797.336	-	804.030	-	-	-
Food and beverages	264.898	-	264.649	1.6	-0.1	-
Food	267.353	-	267.564	1.6	0.1	-
Food at home	248.565	249.725	248.622	0.7	0.0	-0.4
Food away from home	296.316	-	296.751	2.8	0.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	235.004	-	230.103	0.8	-2.1	-
Housing	299.840	-	303.189	5.6	1.1	-
Shelter	340.260	342.303	344.928	6.3	1.4	0.8
Rent of primary residence(1)	344.915	347.695	349.889	6.9	1.4	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	354.830	356.837	358.338	6.1	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	354.830	356.837	358.338	6.1	1.0	0.4
Fuels and utilities	266.512	-	268.686	3.4	0.8	-
Household energy	244.134	247.848	246.419	3.8	0.9	-0.6
Energy services(1)	290.301	295.234	295.292	3.8	1.7	0.0
Electricity(1)	315.770	320.624	320.624	4.1	1.5	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	167.251	171.324	171.510	2.4	2.5	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	176.428	-	175.155	2.2	-0.7	-
Apparel	128.106	-	140.716	7.1	9.8	-
Transportation	218.595	-	219.269	2.7	0.3	-
Private transportation	224.642	-	224.770	2.8	0.1	-
Motor fuel	314.986	312.238	307.543	6.1	-2.4	-1.5
Gasoline (all types)	321.894	319.015	314.111	6.1	-2.4	-1.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)	348.935	345.791	340.329	5.9	-2.5	-1.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	253.684	250.765	248.248	7.1	-2.1	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)	297.967	295.566	291.433	7.2	-2.2	-1.4
Medical care	397.176	-	394.386	1.7	-0.7	-
Recreation(5)	95.171	-	95.793	-3.8	0.7	-
Education and communication(5)	133.051	-	132.558	-4.5	-0.4	-
Other goods and services	407.189	-	410.524	2.7	0.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items	261.560	-	263.756	3.0	0.8	-
Commodities	191.062	-	191.843	2.0	0.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages	154.702	-	155.898	2.4	0.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	185.553	-	188.293	4.3	1.5	-
Durables	123.628	-	123.441	-0.1	-0.2	-
Services	327.230	-	330.757	3.5	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	255.440	-	257.873	3.1	1.0	-
All items less shelter	231.578	-	232.827	1.2	0.5	-
Commodities less food	158.066	-	159.041	2.3	0.6	-
Nondurables	223.585	-	224.918	2.8	0.6	-
Nondurables less food	189.717	-	191.894	4.0	1.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	319.657	-	321.881	0.2	0.7	-
Services less medical care services	319.230	-	323.101	3.7	1.2	-
Energy	285.632	286.356	283.315	5.0	-0.8	-1.1
All items less energy	262.966	-	265.461	2.9	0.9	-
All items less food and energy	262.470	-	265.353	3.1	1.1	-
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Index is on a November 1982=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.