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News Release Information

23-305-SAN
Tuesday, February 14, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, Honolulu Area — January 2023

Area prices were up 0.3 percent over the past two months, up 5.2 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.3 percent for the two months ending in January 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the January increase was influenced by higher prices for apparel and recreation. (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 5.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 6.1 percent. Energy prices increased 20.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.2 percent for the two months ending in January. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home were unchanged, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 6.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 4.0 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 9.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 3.6 percent for the two months ending in January. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-4.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 18.5 percent, and electricity prices moved down 1.9 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 20.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (28.1 percent). Prices paid for gasoline advanced 15.7 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 1.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (15.7 percent), recreation (2.9 percent), and new vehicles (2.2 percent)  were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.7 percent) and shelter (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new vehicles (9.1 percent) and shelter (1.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-10.0 percent).

Table A. Urban Hawaii 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

January

1.9 0.5 1.7 0.3 1.4 0.9 6.0 0.3 5.2

March

0.5 1.8 0.6 1.8 0.9 1.8 2.4 7.5

May

0.7 2.1 0.2 1.3 2.1 3.8 1.6 7.0

July

-0.1 1.6 0.0 1.3 0.8 4.6 0.6 6.8

September

0.1 1.1 0.6 1.9 1.0 5.0 0.8 6.6

November

0.1 0.9 -0.2 1.6 0.1 5.4 -0.6 5.8

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on April 12, 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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

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

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

Expenditure category

All items

319.971 - 320.790 5.2 0.3 -

All items (1967=100)

880.870 - 883.125 - - -

Food and beverages

345.609 - 347.036 5.5 0.4 -

Food

349.593 - 350.287 6.1 0.2 -

Food at home

342.236 343.842 342.366 4.0 0.0 -0.4

Cereals and bakery products

381.838 - 388.295 5.6 1.7 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

314.367 - 313.950 -7.5 -0.1 -

Dairy and related products

279.699 - 287.265 12.2 2.7 -

Fruits and vegetables

427.510 - 418.492 10.0 -2.1 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

433.188 - 427.838 -3.8 -1.2 -

Other food at home

332.350 - 335.001 11.6 0.8 -

Food away from home

350.023 - 351.450 9.4 0.4 -

Alcoholic beverages

278.133 - 293.234 -5.1 5.4 -

Housing

341.277 - 339.646 3.4 -0.5 -

Shelter

364.518 361.342 363.145 1.8 -0.4 0.5

Rent of primary residence(2)

359.718 357.925 360.103 2.0 0.1 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

374.485 373.859 375.650 2.5 0.3 0.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

374.485 373.859 375.650 2.5 0.3 0.5

Fuels and utilities

485.484 - 476.890 18.1 -1.8 -

Household energy

425.060 419.428 414.020 26.4 -2.6 -1.3

Energy services

417.498 412.378 405.907 26.5 -2.8 -1.6

Electricity

414.067 410.278 406.137 28.1 -1.9 -1.0

Utility (piped) gas service

409.105 376.017 333.574 -1.3 -18.5 -11.3

Household furnishings and operations

161.721 - 162.735 1.8 0.6 -

Apparel

107.187 - 124.045 15.4 15.7 -

Transportation

274.915 - 270.999 7.7 -1.4 -

Private transportation

285.363 - 282.303 7.8 -1.1 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

126.401 - 127.032 5.5 0.5 -

New vehicles(1)

188.000 - 192.051 9.1 2.2 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

331.823 - 319.382 -10.0 -3.7 -

Motor fuel

410.594 402.319 391.154 15.7 -4.7 -2.8

Gasoline (all types)

421.275 412.758 401.770 15.7 -4.6 -2.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

437.888 428.845 417.307 15.9 -4.7 -2.7

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

350.032 343.295 333.908 15.6 -4.6 -2.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

393.016 385.784 375.985 14.8 -4.3 -2.5

Medical care

488.065 - - - - -

Recreation(3)

143.109 - 147.294 3.7 2.9 -

Education and communication(3)

155.743 - 156.818 3.8 0.7 -

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

1,922.709 - 1,922.709 2.4 0.0 -

Other goods and services

589.566 - 590.139 12.5 0.1 -

Commodity and service group

All items

319.971 - 320.790 5.2 0.3 -

Commodities

248.165 - 251.312 8.2 1.3 -

Commodities less food & beverages

188.837 - 192.506 10.6 1.9 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

245.451 - 252.370 16.5 2.8 -

Durables

130.725 - 131.842 4.3 0.9 -

Services

383.576 - 382.666 3.7 -0.2 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

310.973 - 310.869 4.8 0.0 -

All items less shelter

302.755 - 304.869 7.6 0.7 -

Commodities less food

192.694 - 196.654 9.9 2.1 -

Nondurables

297.509 - 301.694 9.6 1.4 -

Nondurables less food

247.671 - 255.044 14.7 3.0 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

408.341 - 408.197 6.8 0.0 -

Services less medical care services

374.012 - 373.023 3.8 -0.3 -

Energy

415.985 409.031 400.958 20.9 -3.6 -2.0

All items less energy

315.782 - 317.678 4.1 0.6 -

All items less food and energy

311.704 - 313.797 3.7 0.7 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=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: Tuesday, February 14, 2023