Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), fell 0.1 percent for the two months ending in June 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the June decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 increased 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 1.7 percent. Energy prices advanced 13.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, June 2021–June 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jun 2021	3.2	2.3
Aug 2021	3.7	2.5
Oct 2021	3.8	2.4
Dec 2021	4.2	2.8
Feb 2022	5.2	3.4
Apr 2022	5.0	2.7
Jun 2022	6.8	4.4
Aug 2022	5.7	4.1
Oct 2022	6.0	4.1
Dec 2022	4.9	4.0
Feb 2023	5.3	4.6
Apr 2023	4.2	4.7
Jun 2023	2.9	3.9
Aug 2023	3.4	3.6
Oct 2023	2.8	3.1
Dec 2023	2.6	2.5
Feb 2024	2.4	2.2
Apr 2024	3.8	3.1
Jun 2024	3.2	2.9

Food prices rose 0.1 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home declined 1.1 percent, with lower prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 1.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 1.7 percent. Prices for food at home decreased 0.3 percent since a year ago, led by lower prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-2.1 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 5.2 percent.

The energy index declined 4.5 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-9.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 5.1 percent, and prices for electricity increased 1.3 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 13.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (26.9 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 21.7 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 2.8 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (15.2 percent) and medical care (0.8 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (22.4 percent) and shelter (2.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-3.0 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.8 percent).

The August 2024 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on September 11, 2024.

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 Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

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

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Apr. 2024	May 2024	Jun. 2024	Jun. 2023	Apr. 2024	May 2024
Expenditure category
All items		351.247	-	351.064	3.2	-0.1	-
All items (1967=100)		1,079.830	-	1,079.270	-	-	-
Food and beverages		369.070	-	369.320	1.9	0.1	-
Food		371.953	-	372.216	1.7	0.1	-
Food at home		334.687	332.927	331.134	-0.3	-1.1	-0.5
Cereals and bakery products		338.361	335.492	335.839	0.3	-0.7	0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		352.382	355.059	354.032	0.6	0.5	-0.3
Dairy and related products		342.013	331.060	328.616	-0.6	-3.9	-0.7
Fruits and vegetables		428.608	431.203	419.859	-0.1	-2.0	-2.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		253.426	240.853	237.036	-2.1	-6.5	-1.6
Other food at home		292.229	294.640	297.951	0.0	2.0	1.1
Food away from home		418.167	-	424.458	5.2	1.5	-
Alcoholic beverages		335.512	-	335.583	3.6	0.0	-
Housing		406.337	-	406.145	3.3	0.0	-
Shelter		451.395	451.048	451.424	2.7	0.0	0.1
Rent of primary residence(2)		504.927	505.686	504.841	0.6	0.0	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		477.504	476.694	476.496	1.3	-0.2	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		477.504	476.694	476.496	1.3	-0.2	0.0
Fuels and utilities		632.424	-	641.090	18.2	1.4	-
Household energy		612.395	613.299	625.132	26.4	2.1	1.9
Energy services(2)		616.600	617.822	629.786	26.9	2.1	1.9
Electricity(2)		731.389	731.389	741.126	26.9	1.3	1.3
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		401.648	405.412	422.321	21.7	5.1	4.2
Household furnishings and operations		174.413	-	171.370	-1.8	-1.7	-
Apparel		127.051	-	146.378	22.4	15.2	-
Transportation		270.807	-	260.737	2.7	-3.7	-
Private transportation		268.135	-	263.093	3.2	-1.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		120.198	-	119.706	-3.0	-0.4	-
New vehicles(1)		192.662	-	192.608	-2.0	0.0	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		327.027	-	329.758	-9.8	0.8	-
Motor fuel		397.919	386.142	359.602	2.7	-9.6	-6.9
Gasoline (all types)		395.754	384.036	357.461	2.8	-9.7	-6.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		396.228	384.237	357.164	2.7	-9.9	-7.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		368.506	358.041	334.378	2.9	-9.3	-6.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		373.861	363.656	340.096	3.1	-9.0	-6.5
Medical care		587.011	-	591.992	0.9	0.8	-
Recreation(6)		148.629	-	150.338	3.7	1.1	-
Education and communication(6)		163.130	-	162.511	0.8	-0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,966.792	-	1,979.336	-	0.6	-
Other goods and services		626.628	-	637.939	6.7	1.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items		351.247	-	351.064	3.2	-0.1	-
Commodities		238.131	-	238.204	1.0	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		170.688	-	170.685	0.8	0.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		233.034	-	235.452	5.6	1.0	-
Durables		114.414	-	112.951	-4.5	-1.3	-
Services		446.721	-	446.320	4.3	-0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		341.467	-	341.070	3.4	-0.1	-
All items less shelter		312.421	-	312.124	3.7	-0.1	-
Commodities less food		178.134	-	178.133	0.9	0.0	-
Nondurables		302.437	-	303.772	3.2	0.4	-
Nondurables less food		241.671	-	243.991	5.6	1.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		467.275	-	466.142	7.2	-0.2	-
Services less medical care services		436.347	-	435.670	4.5	-0.2	-
Energy		487.966	480.118	465.828	13.8	-4.5	-3.0
All items less energy		349.467	-	350.137	2.7	0.2	-
All items less food and energy		346.935	-	347.672	2.9	0.2	-
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.