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News Release Information

24-1911-SAN
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Anchorage area — August 2024

Area prices were down 0.1 percent over the past two months, up 1.5 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.1 percent for the two months ending in August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 1.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 0.5 percent. Energy prices declined 4.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.2 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 0.3 percent, led by lower prices for other food at home (-2.2 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-0.5 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 1.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.5 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 0.4 percent since a year ago, with lower prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 2.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.9 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 3.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 2.0 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 4.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-16.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 16.0 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 3.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.9 percent) and education and communication (0.3 percent) were offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-3.6 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-1.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (9.4 percent) and shelter (3.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-7.9 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-2.7 percent).

Table A. Urban Alaska CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

0.0 -0.3 1.0 1.3 1.1 7.4 0.1 4.3 0.1 1.7

April

-1.6 -2.5 1.8 4.8 1.9 7.5 0.8 3.1 2.2 3.2

June

1.0 -3.8 2.5 6.2 7.1 12.4 0.4 -3.3 0.2 2.9

August

0.8 -1.5 0.3 5.7 -4.0 7.6 1.3 2.0 -0.1 1.5

October

0.6 0.3 1.2 6.3 1.1 7.6 0.2 1.1

December

-0.5 0.3 0.4 7.2 -1.7 5.4 -1.1 1.8

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage area is scheduled to be released on November 13, 2024.


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 Urban Alaska area covered in this release consists of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the State of Alaska.

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

Urban Alaska (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

Indexes Percent change from-
Historical
data
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Aug.
2023
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024

Expenditure category

All items

267.559 - 267.313 1.5 -0.1 -

All items (1967=100)

714.153 - 713.494 - - -

Food and beverages

261.799 - 262.257 0.7 0.2 -

Food

271.455 - 271.952 0.5 0.2 -

Food at home

259.691 259.583 258.874 -0.4 -0.3 -0.3

Cereals and bakery products

263.499 265.477 262.288 -2.2 -0.5 -1.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

236.549 237.139 237.046 2.1 0.2 0.0

Dairy and related products

243.769 253.354 247.305 -0.3 1.5 -2.4

Fruits and vegetables

400.895 401.647 401.428 -0.7 0.1 -0.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

183.018 185.599 185.228 -2.1 1.2 -0.2

Other food at home

223.332 217.213 218.504 -0.2 -2.2 0.6

Food away from home

292.542 - 296.427 2.7 1.3 -

Alcoholic beverages

- - - - - -

Housing

238.316 - 239.822 3.4 0.6 -

Shelter

242.436 242.713 244.715 3.4 0.9 0.8

Rent of primary residence(2)

241.525 242.306 244.124 6.0 1.1 0.8

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

244.175 244.224 245.395 4.4 0.5 0.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

244.175 244.224 245.395 4.4 0.5 0.5

Fuels and utilities

384.355 - 391.765 9.0 1.9 -

Household energy

388.781 398.781 398.072 9.4 2.4 -0.2

Energy services

434.867 446.198 446.198 10.4 2.6 0.0

Electricity

384.580 392.256 392.256 16.0 2.0 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service

491.618 508.833 508.833 3.5 3.5 0.0

Household furnishings and operations

141.660 - 136.520 -2.7 -3.6 -

Apparel

159.113 - 158.163 0.0 -0.6 -

Transportation

285.103 - 279.914 -6.1 -1.8 -

Private transportation

295.185 - 288.833 -5.8 -2.2 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

125.126 - 122.860 -7.9 -1.8 -

New vehicles(1)

268.207 - 268.013 -3.5 -0.1 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

335.190 - 326.772 -12.8 -2.5 -

Motor fuel

329.164 316.373 310.085 -16.4 -5.8 -2.0

Gasoline (all types)

333.567 319.785 313.222 -16.1 -6.1 -2.1

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

318.879 305.168 299.266 -17.0 -6.2 -1.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

327.284 313.649 306.317 -14.4 -6.4 -2.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

350.343 338.044 329.710 -12.6 -5.9 -2.5

Medical care

801.985 - 803.081 9.4 0.1 -

Recreation(3)

141.819 - 142.049 2.3 0.2 -

Education and communication(3)

113.363 - 113.667 -0.3 0.3 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

806.288 - 819.918 3.7 1.7 -

Other goods and services

515.342 - 512.112 3.7 -0.6 -

Commodity and service group

All items

267.559 - 267.313 1.5 -0.1 -

Commodities

213.190 - 210.370 -2.6 -1.3 -

Commodities less food & beverages

188.424 - 184.175 -4.8 -2.3 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

250.040 - 243.783 -3.7 -2.5 -

Durables

139.703 - 136.804 -5.0 -2.1 -

Services

315.598 - 318.055 4.5 0.8 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

249.648 - 249.371 0.9 -0.1 -

All items less shelter

277.930 - 276.347 0.6 -0.6 -

Commodities less food

187.999 - 183.894 -4.4 -2.2 -

Nondurables

256.392 - 254.072 -1.0 -0.9 -

Nondurables less food

243.863 - 238.198 -3.0 -2.3 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

437.752 - 440.276 5.9 0.6 -

Services less medical care services

286.853 - 289.367 3.9 0.9 -

Energy

356.775 353.876 349.994 -4.6 -1.9 -1.1

All items less energy

262.715 - 262.848 2.0 0.1 -

All items less food and energy

262.104 - 262.169 2.4 0.0 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1978=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024