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News Release Information

24-516-SAN
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area — February 2024

Area prices were up 0.7 percent over the past two months, up 2.2 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in February 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (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 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 1.0 percent. Energy prices advanced 0.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Phoenix, February 2021-February 2024
Food

Food prices advanced 0.4 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.2 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.0 percent. Prices for food at home fell 0.4 percent since a year ago, led by lower prices for dairy and related products (-5.2 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.1 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 3.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 0.2 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 1.7 percent, and prices for electricity declined 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 0.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (8.3 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 8.8 percent, while prices for gasoline fell 5.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (10.1 percent) and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (2.7 percent) and education and communication (1.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increase was a price decrease in recreation (-1.9 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

June

1.5 2.0 1.9 5.4 3.1 12.3 0.2 4.4

August

0.4 1.8 0.2 5.1 0.8 13.0 0.1 3.7

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 April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on May 15, 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
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024
Feb.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Expenditure category

All items

179.733 - 181.010 2.2 0.7 -

Food and beverages

186.011 - 186.806 0.9 0.4 -

Food

189.076 - 189.879 1.0 0.4 -

Food at home

182.089 184.171 182.427 -0.4 0.2 -0.9

Cereals and bakery products

244.546 244.116 239.702 1.3 -2.0 -1.8

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

213.097 211.864 214.422 -3.1 0.6 1.2

Dairy and related products

146.864 146.214 140.298 -5.2 -4.5 -4.0

Fruits and vegetables

161.273 167.229 163.962 5.5 1.7 -2.0

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

134.636 142.269 140.464 -0.2 4.3 -1.3

Other food at home

180.425 180.060 180.076 -1.5 -0.2 0.0

Food away from home

202.237 - 203.791 3.1 0.8 -

Alcoholic beverages

152.583 - 153.277 0.1 0.5 -

Housing

202.824 - 203.931 2.8 0.5 -

Shelter

219.637 220.002 221.157 2.7 0.7 0.5

Rent of primary residence

237.888 237.297 239.038 4.1 0.5 0.7

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

217.686 218.164 218.653 2.6 0.4 0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

217.686 218.164 218.653 2.6 0.4 0.2

Fuels and utilities

195.033 - 194.341 8.0 -0.4 -

Household energy

188.573 187.486 187.169 8.0 -0.7 -0.2

Energy services

188.302 187.422 187.092 8.3 -0.6 -0.2

Electricity

194.380 193.446 193.416 8.3 -0.5 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service

163.195 162.588 160.407 8.8 -1.7 -1.3

Household furnishings and operations

115.500 - 115.607 -0.8 0.1 -

Apparel

141.390 - 155.616 3.1 10.1 -

Transportation

146.572 - 149.369 -0.8 1.9 -

Private transportation

151.586 - 152.963 -1.3 0.9 -

New and used motor vehicles

109.497 - 111.177 1.0 1.5 -

New vehicles

111.812 - 111.680 -0.8 -0.1 -

Used cars and trucks

112.049 - 109.109 -2.0 -2.6 -

Motor fuel

282.976 273.854 286.402 -5.8 1.2 4.6

Gasoline (all types)

280.676 272.034 284.949 -5.4 1.5 4.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

281.044 272.027 285.474 -5.9 1.6 4.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

295.728 287.097 299.676 -4.3 1.3 4.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

283.312 275.902 287.103 -3.8 1.3 4.1

Medical care

245.687 - - - - -

Recreation

125.913 - 127.421 -1.9 1.2 -

Education and communication

118.705 - 120.015 1.8 1.1 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

236.752 - - - - -

Other goods and services

172.593 - 175.419 1.0 1.6 -

Commodity and service group

All items

179.733 - 181.010 2.2 0.7 -

Commodities

144.440 - 145.607 -0.7 0.8 -

Commodities less food & beverages

124.060 - 125.376 -1.8 1.1 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

168.708 - 172.549 -1.2 2.3 -

Durables

87.250 - 86.975 -2.6 -0.3 -

Services

204.889 - 206.252 3.9 0.7 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

176.005 - 177.818 1.5 1.0 -

All items less shelter

159.796 - 160.951 1.8 0.7 -

Commodities less food

125.216 - 126.500 -1.8 1.0 -

Nondurables

178.670 - 180.899 0.0 1.2 -

Nondurables less food

167.567 - 171.062 -1.2 2.1 -

Services less rent of shelter

185.400 - 186.562 5.9 0.6 -

Services less medical care services

200.719 - 202.875 2.9 1.1 -

Energy

235.788 231.269 236.365 0.5 0.2 2.2

All items less energy

176.330 - 177.634 2.3 0.7 -

All items less food and energy

174.281 - 175.646 2.5 0.8 -

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: Tuesday, March 12, 2024