Prices in the Seattle area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.8 percent 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 the August increase was influenced by higher prices for medical care, shelter, and 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 advanced 5.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 4.0 percent. Energy prices increased 6.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, August 2020–August 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2020	1.6	1.4
Oct 2020	2.1	2.4
Dec 2020	1.4	1.3
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Apr 2021	3.4	2.7
Jun 2021	5.5	4.6
Aug 2021	5.2	4.1
Oct 2021	6.5	5.3
Dec 2021	7.6	6.5
Feb 2022	8.1	7.0
Apr 2022	9.1	7.8
Jun 2022	10.1	8.8
Aug 2022	9.0	8.2
Oct 2022	8.9	7.7
Dec 2022	8.4	8.1
Feb 2023	8.0	7.7
Apr 2023	6.9	7.3
Jun 2023	4.6	5.3
Aug 2023	5.4	5.7

Food prices increased 1.0 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent, with higher prices in three of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home increased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 4.0 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.5 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (6.4 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 7.7 percent.

The energy index advanced 2.8 percent for the two months ending in August. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.4 percent). Prices for electricity and natural gas service were both unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices increased 6.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (26.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 7.4 percent, and prices for gasoline increased 4.3 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.7 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (6.1 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-0.7 percent) and recreation (-0.4 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included recreation (8.4 percent) and shelter (8.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-6.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.2 percent).

The October 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (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		341.734	-	344.449	5.4	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)		1,041.737	-	1,050.014	-	-	-
Food and beverages		354.681	-	357.635	4.2	0.8	-
Food		357.611	-	361.063	4.0	1.0	-
Food at home		320.164	316.375	322.417	1.5	0.7	1.9
Cereals and bakery products		381.218	366.178	375.601	6.4	-1.5	2.6
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		283.915	286.151	289.296	-2.2	1.9	1.1
Dairy and related products		284.430	282.867	294.995	5.7	3.7	4.3
Fruits and vegetables		490.926	488.925	488.998	0.0	-0.4	0.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		416.516	399.480	410.339	3.4	-1.5	2.7
Other food at home		252.448	250.924	256.334	1.2	1.5	2.2
Food away from home		415.872	-	421.835	7.7	1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		314.675	-	313.221	7.1	-0.5	-
Housing		408.248	-	409.535	6.8	0.3	-
Shelter		468.014	468.352	469.773	8.0	0.4	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		472.469	473.327	474.804	9.1	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		487.953	490.111	491.664	8.4	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		487.953	490.111	491.664	8.4	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities		330.003	-	330.401	7.8	0.1	-
Household energy		299.043	299.319	299.656	10.5	0.2	0.1
Energy services(2)		351.757	351.757	351.757	11.9	0.0	0.0
Electricity(2)		363.093	363.093	363.093	7.4	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		236.928	236.928	236.928	26.0	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		228.904	-	228.934	-1.2	0.0	-
Apparel		133.053	-	133.219	2.4	0.1	-
Transportation		300.377	-	303.046	2.8	0.9	-
Private transportation		314.359	-	318.971	2.3	1.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		128.069	-	127.657	-0.1	-0.3	-
New vehicles(1)		225.150	-	225.066	3.0	0.0	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		461.673	-	458.442	-6.2	-0.7	-
Motor fuel		540.728	554.015	564.165	3.8	4.3	1.8
Gasoline (all types)		551.912	565.930	576.075	4.3	4.4	1.8
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		599.220	614.384	625.128	4.3	4.3	1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		434.728	447.354	455.559	4.1	4.8	1.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		507.440	520.360	530.592	4.4	4.6	2.0
Medical care		428.080	-	454.355	4.6	6.1	-
Recreation(6)		121.981	-	121.434	8.4	-0.4	-
Education and communication(6)		147.136	-	147.978	-	0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		509.841	-	519.521	-	1.9	-
Commodity and service group
All items		341.734	-	344.449	5.4	0.8	-
Commodities		245.920	-	247.684	1.6	0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages		194.193	-	195.458	-0.3	0.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		231.536	-	235.994	3.3	1.9	-
Durables		157.164	-	156.492	-3.1	-0.4	-
Services		430.180	-	433.822	7.7	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		338.085	-	339.783	5.5	0.5	-
All items less shelter		292.938	-	296.011	3.9	1.0	-
Commodities less food		198.873	-	200.057	0.0	0.6	-
Nondurables		291.031	-	294.870	4.0	1.3	-
Nondurables less food		238.565	-	242.567	3.5	1.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		394.076	-	400.554	7.5	1.6	-
Services less medical care services		426.221	-	428.116	8.1	0.4	-
Energy		428.895	435.570	440.739	6.3	2.8	1.2
All items less energy		341.254	-	343.626	5.4	0.7	-
All items less food and energy		338.646	-	340.852	5.7	0.7	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 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.