Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent for the two months ending in April 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the April 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 4.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 6.1 percent. Energy prices decreased 7.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 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, April 2020–April 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2020	1.1	1.5
Jun 2020	1.6	1.5
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

Food prices decreased 0.7 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 1.1 percent, with lower prices in five of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 6.1 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.2 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home increased 7.9 percent.

The energy index declined 3.8 percent for the two months ending in April. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-36.0 percent). Prices for electricity rose 4.7 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 4.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 7.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-14.4 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 15.9 percent, but prices for electricity advanced 9.5 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (2.4 percent) and shelter (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-3.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (7.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (6.4 percent), and shelter (5.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-5.2 percent).

The June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on July 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 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	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Apr. 2023	Apr. 2022	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		337.173	-	338.496	4.2	0.4	-
All items (1967=100)		1,036.563	-	1,040.631	-	-	-
Food and beverages		359.912	-	356.665	5.5	-0.9	-
Food		363.265	-	360.824	6.1	-0.7	-
Food at home		330.202	326.526	326.592	5.2	-1.1	0.0
Cereals and bakery products		329.783	-	325.167	5.3	-1.4	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		351.353	-	347.694	-2.9	-1.0	-
Dairy and related products		331.704	-	332.173	3.4	0.1	-
Fruits and vegetables		431.651	-	430.010	9.1	-0.4	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		239.599	-	226.074	3.4	-5.6	-
Other food at home		289.097	-	288.244	11.4	-0.3	-
Food away from home		398.992	-	400.510	7.9	0.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		323.971	-	311.678	-1.5	-3.8	-
Housing		390.701	-	392.105	5.2	0.4	-
Shelter		434.093	437.421	438.763	5.4	1.1	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		491.874	494.283	494.560	4.9	0.5	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		466.191	469.749	470.284	5.8	0.9	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		466.191	469.749	470.284	5.8	0.9	0.1
Fuels and utilities		585.793	-	544.685	1.8	-7.0	-
Household energy		558.268	525.883	498.355	0.4	-10.7	-5.2
Energy services(2)		560.531	527.636	499.851	0.5	-10.8	-5.3
Electricity(2)		561.548	587.322	587.821	9.5	4.7	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		547.333	422.256	350.276	-15.9	-36.0	-17.0
Household furnishings and operations		172.101	-	172.967	6.4	0.5	-
Apparel		116.586	-	112.229	1.8	-3.7	-
Transportation		248.587	-	254.585	-1.3	2.4	-
Private transportation		248.047	-	253.753	-0.6	2.3	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		119.154	-	121.996	3.6	2.4	-
New vehicles(1)		195.768	-	196.100	3.5	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		331.660	-	349.510	-5.2	5.4	-
Motor fuel		340.659	354.292	354.844	-14.3	4.2	0.2
Gasoline (all types)		338.264	351.951	352.585	-14.4	4.2	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		338.236	352.119	352.724	-14.6	4.3	0.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		316.639	328.615	329.100	-13.9	3.9	0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		320.831	333.130	333.852	-13.4	4.1	0.2
Medical care		-	-	583.268	1.7	-	-
Recreation(6)		144.312	-	144.558	7.6	0.2	-
Education and communication(6)		160.458	-	160.114	2.9	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		579.693	-	601.567	7.8	3.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items		337.173	-	338.496	4.2	0.4	-
Commodities		233.306	-	233.349	2.3	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		166.994	-	167.951	-0.4	0.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		219.813	-	221.205	-2.4	0.6	-
Durables		116.778	-	117.392	2.3	0.5	-
Services		424.692	-	427.126	5.1	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		326.809	-	328.312	4.4	0.5	-
All items less shelter		299.536	-	299.124	3.3	-0.1	-
Commodities less food		174.188	-	174.862	-0.4	0.4	-
Nondurables		291.607	-	290.870	2.4	-0.3	-
Nondurables less food		228.172	-	228.692	-2.3	0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		435.940	-	434.426	4.5	-0.3	-
Services less medical care services		413.566	-	416.193	5.4	0.6	-
Energy		429.799	424.588	413.641	-7.9	-3.8	-2.6
All items less energy		336.928	-	339.060	4.9	0.6	-
All items less food and energy		333.753	-	336.458	4.7	0.8	-
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.