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News Release Information

23-996-SAN
Wednesday, May 10, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, San Francisco Area — April 2023

Area prices were up 0.4 percent over the past two months, up 4.2 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 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.)

Food

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.

Energy

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.

All items less food and energy

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).

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 0.4 4.2

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 June 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on July 12, 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
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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023