Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged for the two months ending in August 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that a decrease in shelter prices helped offset higher prices for energy. (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 3.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 4.5 percent. Energy prices declined 2.1 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 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, August 2020–August 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2020	1.6	1.2
Oct 2020	1.1	1.1
Dec 2020	2.0	1.4
Feb 2021	1.6	0.9
Apr 2021	3.8	2.9
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

Food prices increased 0.1 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent, with lower 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 increased 4.5 percent. Prices for food at home rose 3.5 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in all six grocery categories.  Prices for food away from home advanced 6.4 percent.

The energy index advanced 5.9 percent for the two months ending in August. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 6.2 percent, and prices for electricity increased 5.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 2.1 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for natural gas service (-16.8 percent). Prices for gasoline declined 5.3 percent, but prices paid for electricity increased 12.3 percent   during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.4 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-1.6 percent) and shelter (-0.7 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for other goods and services (5.2 percent) and medical care (0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (6.1 percent) and shelter (4.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in medical care (-0.1 percent).

The October 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on November 14, 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 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	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023	Aug. 2023	Aug. 2022	Jun. 2023	Jul. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		340.056	-	340.094	3.4	0.0	-
All items (1967=100)		1,045.427	-	1,045.544	-	-	-
Food and beverages		362.310	-	363.484	4.5	0.3	-
Food		365.879	-	366.277	4.5	0.1	-
Food at home		332.099	329.977	331.589	3.5	-0.2	0.5
Cereals and bakery products		334.938	333.198	326.609	5.7	-2.5	-2.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		351.767	349.429	354.085	0.6	0.7	1.3
Dairy and related products		330.449	339.469	338.521	0.2	2.4	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables		420.164	423.903	416.407	3.0	-0.9	-1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		242.179	244.519	239.132	6.6	-1.3	-2.2
Other food at home		297.949	288.132	298.757	6.1	0.3	3.7
Food away from home		403.309	-	406.376	6.4	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		323.959	-	333.818	4.5	3.0	-
Housing		393.011	-	391.561	3.8	-0.4	-
Shelter		439.713	439.469	436.689	4.0	-0.7	-0.6
Rent of primary residence(2)		501.714	501.917	501.255	5.2	-0.1	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		470.221	469.519	467.028	3.8	-0.7	-0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		470.221	469.519	467.028	3.8	-0.7	-0.5
Fuels and utilities		542.198	-	568.379	3.3	4.8	-
Household energy		494.459	519.453	523.691	1.7	5.9	0.8
Energy services(2)		496.170	521.127	525.493	2.0	5.9	0.8
Electricity(2)		583.916	617.731	617.731	12.3	5.8	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		347.027	357.446	368.634	-16.8	6.2	3.1
Household furnishings and operations		174.497	-	171.606	2.7	-1.7	-
Apparel		119.619	-	117.759	4.8	-1.6	-
Transportation		253.801	-	254.009	-0.9	0.1	-
Private transportation		254.828	-	255.641	-0.2	0.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		123.382	-	121.463	0.3	-1.6	-
New vehicles(1)		196.599	-	196.016	1.6	-0.3	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		365.567	-	359.111	-6.3	-1.8	-
Motor fuel		350.034	351.675	370.944	-5.2	6.0	5.5
Gasoline (all types)		347.817	349.448	368.512	-5.3	5.9	5.5
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		347.795	349.515	368.820	-5.4	6.0	5.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		325.069	326.216	343.435	-5.3	5.6	5.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		329.910	331.149	348.359	-4.9	5.6	5.2
Medical care		586.550	-	591.060	-0.1	0.8	-
Recreation(6)		144.946	-	145.580	6.1	0.4	-
Education and communication(6)		161.181	-	161.488	4.6	0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		597.863	-	629.145	12.5	5.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		340.056	-	340.094	3.4	0.0	-
Commodities		235.879	-	235.609	1.8	-0.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		169.274	-	168.637	-0.4	-0.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.949	-	225.002	-0.1	0.9	-
Durables		118.316	-	116.655	0.1	-1.4	-
Services		427.816	-	428.124	4.2	0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		329.803	-	329.675	3.7	0.0	-
All items less shelter		301.076	-	302.755	3.0	0.6	-
Commodities less food		176.465	-	176.054	-0.2	-0.2	-
Nondurables		294.488	-	296.189	2.8	0.6	-
Nondurables less food		231.128	-	233.700	0.3	1.1	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		434.681	-	441.080	4.6	1.5	-
Services less medical care services		416.837	-	416.663	4.6	0.0	-
Energy		409.205	420.409	433.524	-2.1	5.9	3.1
All items less energy		340.909	-	339.847	3.7	-0.3	-
All items less food and energy		337.907	-	336.662	3.6	-0.4	-
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.