Prices in the San Diego area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.0 percent for the two months ending in March 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the March increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (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 5.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.9 percent. Energy prices declined 4.7 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.6 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.2 percent. Higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (4.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.6 percent). Prices for food away from home declined 1.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.9 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.6 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home declined 2.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 4.4 percent for the two months ending in March. Prices for gasoline advanced 7.8 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices declined 4.7 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-14.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 13.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (3.3 percent) and shelter (2.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (10.8 percent) and shelter (10.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-9.4 percent).

Table A. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA, 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		2.6	0.3	2.3	0.4	1.7	2.0	8.2	1.8	6.4
March	0.5	2.2	0.0	1.8	2.4	4.1	2.1	7.9	1.0	5.3
May	1.0	3.8	-0.4	0.3	0.7	5.3	1.1	8.3
July	-0.3	1.4	1.4	2.1	2.1	6.0	1.2	7.3
September	0.6	1.7	-0.4	1.1	0.1	6.5	0.9	8.2
November	0.2	2.6	0.6	1.6	0.7	6.6	-0.7	6.7

The May 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Diego area is scheduled to be released on June 13, 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 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan area includes San Diego County 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

San Diego-Carlsbad (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Mar. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		354.453	-	358.026	5.3	1.0	-
All items (1967=100)		1,198.513	-	1,210.597	-	-	-
Food and beverages		312.294	-	310.093	1.9	-0.7	-
Food		310.318	-	308.570	1.9	-0.6	-
Food at home		281.196	284.103	281.662	5.6	0.2	-0.9
Cereals and bakery products		360.156	-	357.071	11.1	-0.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		279.220	-	269.241	-3.9	-3.6	-
Dairy and related products		232.246	-	234.783	13.1	1.1	-
Fruits and vegetables		291.932	-	289.590	0.6	-0.8	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		301.742	-	315.944	6.1	4.7	-
Other food at home		272.464	-	277.406	11.5	1.8	-
Food away from home		347.597	-	341.455	-2.5	-1.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		321.588	-	314.633	1.3	-2.2	-
Housing		427.507	-	432.456	10.1	1.2	-
Shelter		477.403	486.522	488.507	10.6	2.3	0.4
Rent of primary residence(2)		470.769	481.858	483.046	10.9	2.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		508.275	516.735	516.795	11.3	1.7	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		508.275	516.735	516.795	11.3	1.7	0.0
Fuels and utilities		-	-	-	-	-	-
Household energy		-	-	-	-	-	-
Energy services		-	-	-	-	-	-
Electricity		492.686	492.686	492.686	13.4	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		-	-	-	-	-	-
Household furnishings and operations		209.406	-	216.233	5.4	3.3	-
Apparel		178.142	-	185.154	10.8	3.9	-
Transportation		279.733	-	285.635	-3.3	2.1	-
Private transportation		278.104	-	284.530	-2.0	2.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		133.889	-	136.483	1.2	1.9	-
New vehicles(1)		259.263	-	261.552	5.9	0.9	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		308.255	-	308.612	-9.4	0.1	-
Motor fuel		362.898	376.412	389.899	-14.2	7.4	3.6
Gasoline (all types)		360.873	374.795	389.085	-14.2	7.8	3.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		373.110	387.694	402.725	-14.5	7.9	3.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		315.507	327.520	339.547	-13.5	7.6	3.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		371.309	384.884	398.607	-13.0	7.4	3.6
Medical care		549.305	-	551.638	3.7	0.4	-
Recreation(3)		182.118	-	184.708	4.2	1.4	-
Education and communication(3)		142.085	-	141.042	1.2	-0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,665.861	-	1,665.655	3.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services		484.360	-	488.923	7.7	0.9	-
Commodity and service group
All items		354.453	-	358.026	5.3	1.0	-
Commodities		238.472	-	241.799	0.4	1.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages		200.512	-	205.718	-0.6	2.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		240.138	-	250.024	-0.6	4.1	-
Durables		159.677	-	161.110	-0.4	0.9	-
Services		456.410	-	460.155	8.1	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		345.149	-	348.776	5.5	1.1	-
All items less shelter		305.584	-	305.841	2.2	0.1	-
Commodities less food		205.712	-	210.581	-0.5	2.4	-
Nondurables		277.496	-	281.962	0.8	1.6	-
Nondurables less food		247.668	-	256.503	-0.4	3.6	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		455.524	-	448.518	4.4	-1.5	-
Services less medical care services		443.756	-	447.501	8.5	0.8	-
Energy		442.244	419.642	422.785	-4.7	-4.4	0.7
All items less energy		352.655	-	357.535	6.1	1.4	-
All items less food and energy		361.540	-	367.464	6.7	1.6	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base. (2) Indexes on a November 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.