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News Release Information

24-1910-SAN
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area — August 2024

Area prices were down 0.3 percent over the past two months, up 2.3 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.3 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 other goods and services and 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 2.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.7 percent. Energy prices declined 7.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 1.4 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.7 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.1 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.6 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 2.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 2.4 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.3 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.3 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 7.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-18.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 4.7 percent, while prices paid for electricity increased 6.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy fell 0.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for other goods and services (-7.0 percent) and recreation (-3.4 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.8 percent) and other goods and services (2.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-2.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent).

Table A. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, 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

0.6 4.4 1.0 1.0 2.1 10.9 1.2 8.5 0.7 2.2

April

-1.4 1.5 2.4 4.9 2.5 11.0 1.5 7.4 1.9 2.6

June

1.5 2.0 1.9 5.4 3.1 12.3 0.2 4.4 0.4 2.7

August

0.4 1.8 0.2 5.1 0.8 13.0 0.1 3.7 -0.3 2.3

October

0.3 0.7 2.2 7.1 1.4 12.1 0.6 2.9

December

-0.8 0.5 1.7 9.7 -0.7 9.5 -0.9 2.7

The October 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix 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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=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

185.108 - 184.474 2.3 -0.3 -

Food and beverages

187.776 - 189.919 1.5 1.1 -

Food

190.700 - 193.373 1.7 1.4 -

Food at home

182.606 187.092 186.561 1.1 2.2 -0.3

Cereals and bakery products

237.705 249.983 245.502 -0.9 3.3 -1.8

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

216.276 220.842 221.140 4.6 2.2 0.1

Dairy and related products

143.147 151.476 149.491 1.5 4.4 -1.3

Fruits and vegetables

162.736 165.289 163.128 2.3 0.2 -1.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

138.108 142.151 145.894 2.8 5.6 2.6

Other food at home

181.480 182.562 182.331 -2.1 0.5 -0.1

Food away from home

205.649 - 206.301 2.5 0.3 -

Alcoholic beverages

155.361 - 153.245 -0.7 -1.4 -

Housing

210.170 - 211.071 3.5 0.4 -

Shelter

226.545 226.008 227.471 3.8 0.4 0.6

Rent of primary residence

238.796 241.527 241.212 3.3 1.0 -0.1

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

220.294 222.116 222.915 3.2 1.2 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

220.294 222.116 222.915 3.2 1.2 0.4

Fuels and utilities

214.949 - 217.073 5.6 1.0 -

Household energy

214.284 218.825 216.881 5.1 1.2 -0.9

Energy services

214.612 219.146 217.175 5.3 1.2 -0.9

Electricity

226.777 232.085 229.766 6.9 1.3 -1.0

Utility (piped) gas service

154.072 154.168 154.196 -4.7 0.1 0.0

Household furnishings and operations

117.459 - 117.509 -0.7 0.0 -

Apparel

152.762 - 155.304 3.7 1.7 -

Transportation

154.225 - 151.240 -3.6 -1.9 -

Private transportation

157.830 - 155.536 -4.5 -1.5 -

New and used motor vehicles

111.401 - 111.356 -2.3 0.0 -

New vehicles

110.959 - 110.577 -2.4 -0.3 -

Used cars and trucks

109.035 - 107.234 -10.4 -1.7 -

Motor fuel

311.466 295.210 292.489 -18.7 -6.1 -0.9

Gasoline (all types)

312.064 295.316 292.405 -18.4 -6.3 -1.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

313.469 296.055 293.034 -19.1 -6.5 -1.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

326.712 309.978 307.028 -16.9 -6.0 -1.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

311.483 296.870 294.313 -15.6 -5.5 -0.9

Medical care

- - - - - -

Recreation

126.435 - 122.198 -0.9 -3.4 -

Education and communication

119.027 - 117.438 -0.4 -1.3 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

- - 231.959 -1.7 - -

Other goods and services

189.066 - 175.768 2.5 -7.0 -

Commodity and service group

All items

185.108 - 184.474 2.3 -0.3 -

Commodities

147.131 - 146.363 -2.5 -0.5 -

Commodities less food & beverages

127.127 - 125.075 -5.1 -1.6 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

177.605 - 173.079 -6.1 -2.5 -

Durables

86.640 - 86.213 -4.2 -0.5 -

Services

212.102 - 211.550 5.0 -0.3 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

181.974 - 181.260 1.6 -0.4 -

All items less shelter

164.418 - 163.065 1.3 -0.8 -

Commodities less food

128.264 - 126.212 -4.9 -1.6 -

Nondurables

183.791 - 182.812 -1.9 -0.5 -

Nondurables less food

175.797 - 171.529 -5.7 -2.4 -

Services less rent of shelter

192.793 - 190.523 7.1 -1.2 -

Services less medical care services

208.963 - 208.171 4.0 -0.4 -

Energy

263.680 259.629 257.281 -7.8 -2.4 -0.9

All items less energy

180.646 - 180.279 2.9 -0.2 -

All items less food and energy

178.934 - 178.176 3.2 -0.4 -

Footnotes
(1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024