Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.7 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and 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 advanced 3.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 4.1 percent. Energy prices increased 0.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, August 2020–August 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2020	2.0	2.0
Sep 2020	1.2	1.4
Oct 2020	0.7	1.2
Nov 2020	1.0	1.5
Dec 2020	1.5	1.5
Jan 2021	0.9	0.6
Feb 2021	1.0	0.3
Mar 2021	2.2	0.9
Apr 2021	3.6	1.9
May 2021	3.9	2.1
Jun 2021	4.0	2.3
Jul 2021	3.9	2.3
Aug 2021	4.0	2.3
Sep 2021	4.6	3.0
Oct 2021	5.4	3.4
Nov 2021	6.0	3.6
Dec 2021	6.6	4.4
Jan 2022	7.5	5.5
Feb 2022	7.4	5.9
Mar 2022	8.5	6.2
Apr 2022	7.9	5.8
May 2022	8.0	5.8
Jun 2022	8.6	6.0
Jul 2022	7.7	5.7
Aug 2022	7.6	6.2
Sep 2022	7.8	6.3
Oct 2022	7.5	6.0
Nov 2022	6.0	5.2
Dec 2022	4.9	4.5
Jan 2023	5.8	4.5
Feb 2023	5.1	4.5
Mar 2023	3.7	4.3
Apr 2023	3.8	4.5
May 2023	3.2	4.3
Jun 2023	2.5	4.0
Jul 2023	2.7	3.4
Aug 2023	3.3	3.5

Food prices declined 0.1 percent for the month of August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent, influenced by lower prices for other food at home (-1.5 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-1.4 percent). Prices for food away from home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 4.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 2.5 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 6.2 percent.

The energy index advanced 4.0 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 7.6 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices increased 0.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (13.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service fell 14.3 percent, and prices for gasoline declined 2.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.5 percent in August. Higher prices for apparel (6.1 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (8.2 percent) and shelter (5.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-6.2 percent).

The September 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on October 12, 2023.

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals 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

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Aug. 2022	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		322.055	321.931	324.050	3.3	0.6	0.7
All items (1967=100)		951.494	951.126	957.388	-	-	-
Food and beverages		328.406	330.276	330.114	3.9	0.5	0.0
Food		329.962	332.354	331.989	4.1	0.6	-0.1
Food at home		315.871	318.975	318.410	2.5	0.8	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products		343.414	350.051	350.457	5.6	2.1	0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		337.829	340.830	345.117	2.3	2.2	1.3
Dairy and related products		297.390	300.894	299.145	-1.7	0.6	-0.6
Fruits and vegetables		411.595	418.910	413.075	-1.1	0.4	-1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		306.049	304.262	310.546	4.8	1.5	2.1
Other food at home		258.294	259.738	255.943	4.8	-0.9	-1.5
Food away from home		340.405	341.524	341.505	6.2	0.3	0.0
Alcoholic beverages		285.493	280.398	282.904	1.2	-0.9	0.9
Housing		366.319	367.102	368.480	4.6	0.6	0.4
Shelter		418.164	419.001	420.623	5.0	0.6	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		443.737	444.931	447.648	5.8	0.9	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		432.069	433.348	434.944	4.8	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		432.044	433.323	434.919	4.8	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities		460.548	466.723	472.708	5.0	2.6	1.3
Household energy		409.392	420.614	427.795	4.7	4.5	1.7
Energy services(2)		407.773	418.879	426.093	4.8	4.5	1.7
Electricity(2)		475.574	487.574	487.706	13.7	2.6	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		311.953	322.618	346.998	-14.3	11.2	7.6
Household furnishings and operations		132.982	132.065	131.281	0.6	-1.3	-0.6
Apparel		120.659	116.984	124.088	1.2	2.8	6.1
Transportation		265.189	264.953	267.894	-0.7	1.0	1.1
Private transportation		267.102	267.483	270.235	-0.8	1.2	1.0
New and used motor vehicles(4)		114.195	114.278	113.742	-2.2	-0.4	-0.5
New vehicles(1)		196.567	196.489	195.700	0.4	-0.4	-0.4
Used cars and trucks(1)		386.881	385.592	380.049	-6.2	-1.8	-1.4
Motor fuel		371.604	375.619	397.083	-2.2	6.9	5.7
Gasoline (all types)		362.182	366.090	386.936	-2.2	6.8	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		362.871	366.863	387.990	-2.3	6.9	5.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		346.686	350.244	369.541	-2.2	6.6	5.5
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		347.052	350.513	369.611	-2.0	6.5	5.4
Medical care		556.890	557.087	556.071	1.8	-0.1	-0.2
Recreation(6)		124.389	124.435	125.820	4.8	1.2	1.1
Education and communication(6)		156.957	157.089	158.154	0.5	0.8	0.7
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,234.511	2,241.252	2,269.579	2.4	1.6	1.3
Other goods and services		540.739	512.741	529.462	8.2	-2.1	3.3
Commodity and service group
All items		322.055	321.931	324.050	3.3	0.6	0.7
Commodities		218.667	218.535	220.389	0.7	0.8	0.8
Commodities less food & beverages		162.770	162.044	164.318	-1.9	1.0	1.4
Nondurables less food & beverages		226.577	225.104	232.980	0.3	2.8	3.5
Durables		103.638	103.368	102.864	-3.4	-0.7	-0.5
Services		413.438	413.327	415.619	4.7	0.5	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		311.682	311.545	313.783	3.4	0.7	0.7
All items less shelter		279.524	278.963	281.314	2.3	0.6	0.8
Commodities less food		168.129	167.297	169.614	-1.7	0.9	1.4
Nondurables		279.075	279.177	283.339	2.5	1.5	1.5
Nondurables less food		233.154	231.442	239.099	0.3	2.5	3.3
Services less rent of shelter(3)		418.030	416.357	419.790	4.4	0.4	0.8
Services less medical care services		399.506	399.457	401.922	5.0	0.6	0.6
Energy		388.643	395.638	411.315	0.7	5.8	4.0
All items less energy		320.168	319.644	321.018	3.6	0.3	0.4
All items less food and energy		318.489	317.529	319.163	3.5	0.2	0.5
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 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.