Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.2 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 medical care. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.8 percent. Energy prices advanced 3.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Alaska, June 2021–June 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2021	6.2	6.0
Aug 2021	5.7	4.5
Oct 2021	6.3	4.9
Dec 2021	7.2	5.7
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Apr 2022	7.5	5.2
Jun 2022	12.4	6.3
Aug 2022	7.6	6.7
Oct 2022	7.6	6.6
Dec 2022	5.4	5.6
Feb 2023	4.3	5.0
Apr 2023	3.1	5.4
Jun 2023	-3.3	1.8
Aug 2023	2.0	2.7
Oct 2023	1.1	2.2
Dec 2023	1.8	2.5
Feb 2024	1.7	2.0
Apr 2024	3.2	2.7
Jun 2024	2.9	3.2

Food prices rose 0.8 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.9 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (3.3 percent) and other food at home (1.8 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.8 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.3 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.9 percent.

The energy index declined 3.8 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.5 percent). Prices for both electricity and natural gas service were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 3.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (14.3 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 2.7 percent, while prices for gasoline fell 0.5 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 medical care (6.8 percent) and household furnishings and operations (3.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new vehicles (-1.7 percent) and recreation (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (14.8 percent), medical care (9.4 percent) and shelter (4.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-8.5 percent) and education and communication (-1.2 percent).

The August 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage 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 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	Apr. 2024	May 2024	Jun. 2024	Jun. 2023	Apr. 2024	May 2024
Expenditure category
All items		267.046	-	267.559	2.9	0.2	-
All items (1967=100)		712.782	-	714.153	-	-	-
Food and beverages		259.809	-	261.799	1.8	0.8	-
Food		269.253	-	271.455	1.8	0.8	-
Food at home		257.409	256.001	259.691	1.3	0.9	1.4
Cereals and bakery products		255.082	260.218	263.499	-1.2	3.3	1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		233.110	232.555	236.549	2.4	1.5	1.7
Dairy and related products		249.983	249.122	243.769	-3.4	-2.5	-2.1
Fruits and vegetables		404.489	394.751	400.895	2.2	-0.9	1.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		182.364	187.130	183.018	1.0	0.4	-2.2
Other food at home		219.281	214.252	223.332	2.8	1.8	4.2
Food away from home		290.623	-	292.542	2.9	0.7	-
Alcoholic beverages		-	-	-	-	-	-
Housing		236.919	-	238.316	4.6	0.6	-
Shelter		241.616	241.107	242.436	4.8	0.3	0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)		239.078	239.526	241.525	6.7	1.0	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		241.429	241.832	244.175	5.5	1.1	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		241.429	241.832	244.175	5.5	1.1	1.0
Fuels and utilities		383.730	-	384.355	8.4	0.2	-
Household energy		388.186	388.323	388.781	8.7	0.2	0.1
Energy services		434.857	434.866	434.867	9.2	0.0	0.0
Electricity		384.567	384.580	384.580	14.3	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		491.615	491.615	491.618	2.7	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		137.011	-	141.660	-0.1	3.4	-
Apparel		158.969	-	159.113	0.6	0.1	-
Transportation		294.469	-	285.103	-2.6	-3.2	-
Private transportation		300.580	-	295.185	-0.6	-1.8	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		125.299	-	125.126	-8.5	-0.1	-
New vehicles(1)		272.977	-	268.207	-4.3	-1.7	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		334.596	-	335.190	-11.2	0.2	-
Motor fuel		354.547	359.318	329.164	-1.5	-7.2	-8.4
Gasoline (all types)		360.519	365.726	333.567	-0.5	-7.5	-8.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		347.344	351.742	318.879	-1.4	-8.2	-9.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		346.488	353.406	327.284	1.4	-5.5	-7.4
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		368.500	376.098	350.343	2.8	-4.9	-6.8
Medical care		751.147	-	801.985	9.4	6.8	-
Recreation(3)		143.266	-	141.819	0.9	-1.0	-
Education and communication(3)		112.934	-	113.363	-1.2	0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		797.438	-	806.288	2.5	1.1	-
Other goods and services		499.378	-	515.342	14.8	3.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		267.046	-	267.559	2.9	0.2	-
Commodities		213.094	-	213.190	-0.3	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		189.177	-	188.424	-1.9	-0.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		254.983	-	250.040	1.5	-1.9	-
Durables		138.663	-	139.703	-4.7	0.8	-
Services		314.665	-	315.598	5.4	0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		250.401	-	249.648	2.4	-0.3	-
All items less shelter		277.584	-	277.930	2.2	0.1	-
Commodities less food		188.736	-	187.999	-1.7	-0.4	-
Nondurables		257.273	-	256.392	1.8	-0.3	-
Nondurables less food		248.369	-	243.863	1.7	-1.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		436.687	-	437.752	6.1	0.2	-
Services less medical care services		288.222	-	286.853	4.9	-0.5	-
Energy		370.935	373.705	356.775	3.5	-3.8	-4.5
All items less energy		261.346	-	262.715	2.9	0.5	-
All items less food and energy		260.887	-	262.104	3.2	0.5	-
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.