Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 1.4 percent for the two months ending in September 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter 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 advanced 4.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 3.4 percent. Energy prices advanced 5.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA, September 2020–September 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Sep 2020	1.7	1.4
Nov 2020	1.9	2.3
Jan 2021	2.2	2.0
Mar 2021	3.6	2.0
May 2021	5.9	4.0
Jul 2021	6.5	4.9
Sep 2021	6.8	5.2
Nov 2021	7.9	5.4
Jan 2022	8.6	6.3
Mar 2022	10.0	6.9
May 2022	9.4	6.2
Jul 2022	9.2	6.2
Sep 2022	8.4	6.0
Nov 2022	7.5	6.4
Jan 2023	7.3	6.3
Mar 2023	4.6	5.9
May 2023	3.9	5.8
Jul 2023	3.4	5.1
Sep 2023	4.9	5.5

Food prices declined 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent, influenced by lower prices for dairy and related products (-3.9 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-2.8 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 2.1 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (4.5 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (4.4 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 5.8 percent.

The energy index increased 10.4 percent for the two months ending in September. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (16.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 0.9 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 0.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 5.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (14.0 percent). Prices paid for gasoline increased 4.7 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 17.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for other goods and services (4.2 percent) and shelter (2.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-7.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-4.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (9.8 percent) and other goods and services (8.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-7.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.2 percent).

The November 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on December 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.

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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Sep. 2023	Sep. 2022	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		129.525	-	131.372	4.9	1.4	-
Food and beverages		133.342	-	133.346	3.3	0.0	-
Food		134.559	-	134.400	3.4	-0.1	-
Food at home		133.048	133.916	132.600	2.1	-0.3	-1.0
Cereals and bakery products		149.369	153.219	149.628	3.1	0.2	-2.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		137.990	137.665	138.364	4.4	0.3	0.5
Dairy and related products		116.936	110.625	112.323	-5.3	-3.9	1.5
Fruits and vegetables		132.947	134.921	133.168	4.5	0.2	-1.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		129.711	130.545	126.021	-3.8	-2.8	-3.5
Other food at home		127.559	129.768	128.538	2.7	0.8	-0.9
Food away from home		136.828	-	137.199	5.8	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		110.508	-	-	-	-	-
Housing		134.730	-	136.628	8.5	1.4	-
Shelter		132.285	134.013	135.520	9.8	2.4	1.1
Rent of primary residence		138.436	139.307	140.359	11.5	1.4	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		131.244	132.665	134.160	9.0	2.2	1.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		131.244	132.665	134.160	9.0	2.2	1.1
Fuels and utilities		155.723	-	156.682	5.3	0.6	-
Household energy		165.203	167.633	166.155	4.3	0.6	-0.9
Energy services		166.628	169.195	167.609	4.5	0.6	-0.9
Electricity		168.898	168.943	169.721	14.0	0.5	0.5
Utility (piped) gas service		159.622	169.708	161.071	-17.6	0.9	-5.1
Household furnishings and operations		128.361	-	122.276	1.2	-4.7	-
Apparel		115.601	-	113.222	0.0	-2.1	-
Transportation		133.784	-	138.735	1.7	3.7	-
Private transportation		136.708	-	141.741	2.0	3.7	-
New and used motor vehicles		119.574	-	117.471	-1.3	-1.8	-
New vehicles		116.087	-	115.390	2.3	-0.6	-
Used cars and trucks		146.801	-	136.207	-7.7	-7.2	-
Motor fuel		159.295	169.068	185.361	4.7	16.4	9.6
Gasoline (all types)		159.294	168.896	185.172	4.7	16.2	9.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		159.908	169.675	186.148	4.7	16.4	9.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		159.788	169.144	185.543	4.6	16.1	9.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		156.146	165.075	180.498	4.5	15.6	9.3
Medical care		-	-	121.962	0.2	-	-
Recreation		111.851	-	110.877	3.1	-0.9	-
Education and communication		109.597	-	109.643	-0.2	0.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		127.458	-	127.557	-	0.1	-
Other goods and services		126.433	-	131.688	8.5	4.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		129.525	-	131.372	4.9	1.4	-
Commodities		127.866	-	128.991	0.8	0.9	-
Commodities less food & beverages		124.921	-	126.622	-0.6	1.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		132.284	-	139.327	1.6	5.3	-
Durables		117.306	-	114.136	-2.7	-2.7	-
Services		130.806	-	133.163	7.7	1.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		130.110	-	132.032	5.2	1.5	-
All items less shelter		128.157	-	129.269	2.3	0.9	-
Commodities less food		124.487	-	126.226	-0.6	1.4	-
Nondurables		132.836	-	136.230	2.5	2.6	-
Nondurables less food		131.127	-	137.988	1.5	5.2	-
Services less rent of shelter		128.497	-	129.572	4.7	0.8	-
Services less medical care services		131.422	-	133.926	8.5	1.9	-
Energy		162.162	169.231	178.949	5.1	10.4	5.7
All items less energy		126.738	-	127.595	5.2	0.7	-
All items less food and energy		125.492	-	126.518	5.5	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.