Prices in the Seattle area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent for the two months ending in June 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (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 increased 3.8 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.1 percent. Energy prices fell 1.7 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, June 2021–June 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2021	5.5	4.6
Aug 2021	5.2	4.1
Oct 2021	6.5	5.3
Dec 2021	7.6	6.5
Feb 2022	8.1	7.0
Apr 2022	9.1	7.8
Jun 2022	10.1	8.8
Aug 2022	9.0	8.2
Oct 2022	8.9	7.7
Dec 2022	8.4	8.1
Feb 2023	8.0	7.7
Apr 2023	6.9	7.3
Jun 2023	4.6	5.3
Aug 2023	5.4	5.7
Oct 2023	4.8	5.5
Dec 2023	4.4	4.9
Feb 2024	4.3	5.2
Apr 2024	4.4	4.9
Jun 2024	3.8	4.4

Food prices decreased 0.5 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 1.8 percent, led by lower prices for dairy and related products (-3.6 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-3.5 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 1.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.1 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 0.6 percent since a year ago, with lower prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 3.9 percent.

The energy index declined 0.2 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.8 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 27.5 percent, and prices for electricity increased 1.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 1.7 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.7 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 9.5 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 7.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (6.5 percent) and shelter (1.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-2.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (13.3 percent) and shelter (5.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-2.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent).

The August 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle area is scheduled to be released on September 11, 2024.

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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in the State of Washington.

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

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

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Apr. 2024	May 2024	Jun. 2024	Jun. 2023	Apr. 2024	May 2024
Expenditure category
All items		353.503	-	354.824	3.8	0.4	-
All items (1967=100)		1,077.614	-	1,081.641	-	-	-
Food and beverages		361.464	-	359.759	1.4	-0.5	-
Food		363.183	-	361.428	1.1	-0.5	-
Food at home		324.107	317.857	318.391	-0.6	-1.8	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		403.855	401.074	389.718	2.2	-3.5	-2.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		290.037	290.357	289.587	2.0	-0.2	-0.3
Dairy and related products		291.910	281.918	281.278	-1.1	-3.6	-0.2
Fruits and vegetables		509.577	501.155	493.726	0.6	-3.1	-1.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		409.145	389.167	407.658	-2.1	-0.4	4.8
Other food at home		246.634	240.278	244.463	-3.2	-0.9	1.7
Food away from home		424.932	-	431.965	3.9	1.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		333.192	-	332.010	5.5	-0.4	-
Housing		422.864	-	428.071	4.9	1.2	-
Shelter		486.764	489.427	492.417	5.2	1.2	0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)		491.994	494.025	496.098	5.0	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		511.503	514.001	516.220	5.8	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		511.503	514.001	516.220	5.8	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities		339.154	-	355.403	7.7	4.8	-
Household energy		301.420	318.479	322.205	7.7	6.9	1.2
Energy services(2)		354.834	376.072	380.535	8.2	7.2	1.2
Electricity(2)		390.988	397.371	397.626	9.5	1.7	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		198.832	242.296	253.441	7.0	27.5	4.6
Household furnishings and operations		230.900	-	228.289	-0.3	-1.1	-
Apparel		131.841	-	140.461	5.6	6.5	-
Transportation		309.048	-	306.383	2.0	-0.9	-
Private transportation		323.430	-	321.348	2.2	-0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		124.157	-	125.293	-2.2	0.9	-
New vehicles(1)		224.721	-	225.159	0.0	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		409.478	-	410.204	-11.1	0.2	-
Motor fuel		524.752	523.994	499.570	-7.6	-4.8	-4.7
Gasoline (all types)		535.293	534.783	509.617	-7.7	-4.8	-4.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		579.004	578.343	550.328	-8.2	-5.0	-4.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		425.400	425.006	406.769	-6.4	-4.4	-4.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		499.356	499.223	478.123	-5.8	-4.3	-4.2
Medical care		488.025	-	485.169	13.3	-0.6	-
Recreation(6)		124.379	-	121.857	-0.1	-2.0	-
Education and communication(6)		148.552	-	148.316	0.8	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		527.206	-	537.253	5.4	1.9	-
Commodity and service group
All items		353.503	-	354.824	3.8	0.4	-
Commodities		246.024	-	243.958	-0.8	-0.8	-
Commodities less food & beverages		192.197	-	190.186	-2.1	-1.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		234.562	-	233.847	1.0	-0.3	-
Durables		152.479	-	149.894	-4.6	-1.7	-
Services		453.781	-	458.104	6.5	1.0	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		347.676	-	349.239	3.3	0.4	-
All items less shelter		302.164	-	301.614	3.0	-0.2	-
Commodities less food		197.457	-	195.455	-1.7	-1.0	-
Nondurables		295.899	-	294.728	1.3	-0.4	-
Nondurables less food		242.751	-	241.999	1.4	-0.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		424.901	-	427.531	8.5	0.6	-
Services less medical care services		446.966	-	451.662	6.0	1.1	-
Energy		422.431	431.512	421.686	-1.7	-0.2	-2.3
All items less energy		353.626	-	355.061	4.0	0.4	-
All items less food and energy		351.879	-	353.701	4.4	0.5	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 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.