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News Release Information

23-512-SAN
Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, San Francisco Area — February 2023

Area prices were up 1.8 percent over the past two months, up 5.3 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.8 percent for the two months ending in February 2023, 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. (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 advanced 5.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 8.0 percent, and energy prices rose 8.6 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 1.2 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.2 percent, with higher prices in three of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home increased 1.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 8.0 percent. Prices for food at home rose 8.1 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 5.3 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 10.8 percent for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials. Prices for food away from home advanced 7.8 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 6.6 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (18.0 percent). Prices for gasoline rose 4.6 percent, and prices for electricity increased 3.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 8.6 percent over the year, led by higher prices for natural gas service (29.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 13.6 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 1.2 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (6.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (3.8 percent), and shelter (1.8 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 increased 4.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included household furnishings and operations (7.5 percent), and shelter (4.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-11.9 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, 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

February

0.5 3.5 0.9 2.9 0.5 1.6 1.4 5.2 1.8 5.3

April

1.2 4.0 -0.5 1.1 1.7 3.8 1.5 5.0

June

0.2 3.2 0.7 1.6 0.0 3.2 1.7 6.8

August

0.1 2.7 0.0 1.6 0.5 3.7 -0.5 5.7

October

1.0 3.0 0.5 1.1 0.7 3.8 1.0 6.0

December

-0.5 2.5 0.4 2.0 0.8 4.2 -0.3 4.9

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on May 10, 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 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
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023
Feb.
2023
Feb.
2022
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023

Expenditure category

All items

331.222 - 337.173 5.3 1.8 -

All items (1967=100)

1,018.268 - 1,036.563 - - -

Food and beverages

357.277 - 359.912 7.6 0.7 -

Food

359.081 - 363.265 8.0 1.2 -

Food at home

326.412 327.478 330.202 8.1 1.2 0.8

Cereals and bakery products

321.182 - 329.783 7.0 2.7 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

356.523 - 351.353 5.3 -1.5 -

Dairy and related products

345.389 - 331.704 9.8 -4.0 -

Fruits and vegetables

414.685 - 431.651 8.6 4.1 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

243.487 - 239.599 10.8 -1.6 -

Other food at home

279.542 - 289.097 9.4 3.4 -

Food away from home

394.357 - 398.992 7.8 1.2 -

Alcoholic beverages

338.666 - 323.971 2.6 -4.3 -

Housing

381.854 - 390.701 5.4 2.3 -

Shelter

426.481 430.591 434.093 4.4 1.8 0.8

Rent of primary residence(2)

487.480 490.031 491.874 4.8 0.9 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)

457.867 462.232 466.191 4.9 1.8 0.9

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

457.867 462.232 466.191 4.9 1.8 0.9

Fuels and utilities

551.930 - 585.793 13.8 6.1 -

Household energy

515.010 552.293 558.268 19.0 8.4 1.1

Energy services(2)

516.458 553.863 560.531 19.1 8.5 1.2

Electricity(2)

542.853 561.548 561.548 13.6 3.4 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service(2)

464.003 530.248 547.333 29.1 18.0 3.2

Household furnishings and operations

165.874 - 172.101 7.5 3.8 -

Apparel

109.638 - 116.586 3.2 6.3 -

Transportation

243.553 - 248.587 4.2 2.1 -

Private transportation

244.479 - 248.047 2.8 1.5 -

New and used motor vehicles(4)

119.184 - 119.154 - 0.0 -

New vehicles(1)

194.236 - 195.768 - 0.8 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

340.493 - 331.660 -11.9 -2.6 -

Motor fuel

325.704 323.764 340.659 -0.8 4.6 5.2

Gasoline (all types)

323.357 321.434 338.264 -1.2 4.6 5.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

323.162 321.234 338.236 -1.3 4.7 5.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

303.156 301.207 316.639 -0.8 4.4 5.1

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

307.298 305.510 320.831 -0.7 4.4 5.0

Medical care

- - - - - -

Recreation(6)

143.214 - 144.312 5.2 0.8 -

Education and communication(6)

160.184 - 160.458 3.2 0.2 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,943.403 - - - - -

Other goods and services

569.746 - 579.693 7.2 1.7 -

Commodity and service group

All items

331.222 - 337.173 5.3 1.8 -

Commodities

230.565 - 233.306 5.0 1.2 -

Commodities less food & beverages

164.586 - 166.994 2.8 1.5 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

213.305 - 219.813 3.4 3.1 -

Durables

116.497 - 116.778 - 0.2 -

Services

415.986 - 424.692 5.5 2.1 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

320.590 - 326.809 5.4 1.9 -

All items less shelter

294.223 - 299.536 6.0 1.8 -

Commodities less food

172.119 - 174.188 2.9 1.2 -

Nondurables

286.723 - 291.607 6.0 1.7 -

Nondurables less food

222.980 - 228.172 3.3 2.3 -

Services less rent of shelter(3)

424.773 - 435.940 7.4 2.6 -

Services less medical care services

404.019 - 413.566 5.7 2.4 -

Energy

403.252 417.374 429.799 8.6 6.6 3.0

All items less energy

331.841 - 336.928 5.1 1.5 -

All items less food and energy

328.551 - 333.753 4.6 1.6 -

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023