Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The April increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and 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 3.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices advanced 10.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.2 percent for the month of April. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent, and prices for food at home inched up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.4 percent, while prices for food at home were virtually unchanged.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.4 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (6.9 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 1.0 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 10.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (17.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 3.8 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 3.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent in April. Higher prices for alcoholic beverages (0.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (0.6 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.7 percent), new and used motor vehicles (-0.5 percent), and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (4.3 percent) and medical care (3.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline for new vehicles (-2.2 percent).

Table A. West Region CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.3	1.7	0.3	1.7	-0.3	0.7	0.5	2.6	0.5	2.5	0.5	3.1
February	0.8	2.0	0.4	1.3	0.6	0.9	0.1	2.1	0.6	3.0	0.5	3.1
March	0.4	1.5	0.6	1.5	0.8	1.1	0.2	1.5	0.3	3.1	0.4	3.2
April	0.0	1.3	0.3	1.8	0.3	1.0	0.5	1.8	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.2
May	0.2	1.3	0.6	2.3	0.8	1.2	0.5	1.5	0.2	2.6
June	0.1	1.5	0.1	2.3	0.0	1.1	0.2	1.6	0.0	2.5
July	0.0	1.9	0.1	2.3	0.3	1.3	0.1	1.4	0.1	2.5
August	0.1	1.5	-0.1	2.1	-0.1	1.3	0.0	1.5	0.2	2.7
September	0.2	1.3	0.1	2.0	-0.2	1.0	0.3	2.0	0.5	2.9
October	-0.1	0.9	-0.1	2.0	0.0	1.1	0.3	2.3	0.3	2.9
November	-0.4	1.3	-0.6	1.7	-0.2	1.5	-0.2	2.3	0.0	3.1
December	0.0	1.8	-0.5	1.3	-0.1	1.8	0.0	2.5	0.1	3.1

The May 2018 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2018.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 percent of the total 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 5,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Feb. 2018	Mar. 2018	Apr. 2018	Apr. 2017	Feb. 2018	Mar. 2018
Expenditure category
All Items	259.986	260.994	262.037	3.2	0.8	0.4
All items (December 1977=100)	420.252	421.883	423.568
Food and beverages	257.552	258.422	259.152	1.6	0.6	0.3
Food	257.364	258.260	258.887	1.6	0.6	0.2
Food at home	245.834	246.683	246.843	0.1	0.4	0.1
Cereals and bakery products	256.095	258.468	257.067		0.4	-0.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	253.836	257.212	258.696		1.9	0.6
Dairy and related products	225.991	227.306	227.303		0.6	0.0
Fruits and vegetables	327.416	325.096	325.959		-0.4	0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	170.867	169.825	169.217		-1.0	-0.4
Other food at home	211.710	212.397	212.407		0.3	0.0
Food away from home	272.390	273.346	274.576	3.4	0.8	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	256.715	257.254	259.285	1.8	1.0	0.8
Housing	283.071	283.968	284.763	3.9	0.6	0.3
Shelter	325.619	326.804	327.549	4.3	0.6	0.2
Rent of primary residence(1)	344.082	344.503	345.911	4.7	0.5	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	342.157	343.115	344.234	4.4	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	342.156	343.116	344.237	4.4	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	295.214	295.361	296.545	2.4	0.5	0.4
Household energy	251.781	251.607	252.987	2.1	0.5	0.5
Energy services(1)	253.481	253.156	254.807	2.1	0.5	0.7
Electricity(1)	283.732	285.080	286.660	3.8	1.0	0.6
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	197.169	192.315	194.318	-3.7	-1.4	1.0
Household furnishings and operations	129.828	130.039	130.820	2.0	0.8	0.6
Apparel	120.338	120.474	120.914	0.4	0.5	0.4
Transportation	211.782	213.377	216.897	5.8	2.4	1.6
Private transportation	206.681	208.246	211.852	6.5	2.5	1.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)	100.372	100.700	100.206	-0.7	-0.2	-0.5
New vehicles	147.182	147.020	146.001	-2.2	-0.8	-0.7
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	102.231	102.119	101.409	-2.2	-0.8	-0.7
New cars(4)	143.662	143.454	142.395	-2.5	-0.9	-0.7
Used cars and trucks	132.834	134.616	134.162	-0.8	1.0	-0.3
Motor fuel	242.672	246.796	263.723	17.3	8.7	6.9
Gasoline (all types)	241.523	245.739	262.783	17.3	8.8	6.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	238.678	242.874	260.153	17.5	9.0	7.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	230.775	234.631	249.448	16.6	8.1	6.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	237.552	241.566	256.204	16.0	7.9	6.1
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	817.530	824.374	824.995		0.9	0.1
Medical Care	488.655	491.089	491.184	3.0	0.5	0.0
Medical care commodities	380.225	378.301	379.122	3.4	-0.3	0.2
Medical care services	522.677	526.583	526.431	2.9	0.7	0.0
Professional services	356.793	357.605	358.344	2.2	0.4	0.2
Recreation(3)	113.538	114.298	113.495	0.5	0.0	-0.7
Education and communication(3)	135.575	135.674	135.561	0.3	0.0	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,378.817	1,380.942	1,381.239		0.2	0.0
Other goods and services	433.833	433.408	434.942	2.4	0.3	0.4
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	259.986	260.994	262.037	3.2	0.8	0.4
Commodities	183.013	183.741	185.388	2.3	1.3	0.9
Commodities less food & beverages	145.864	146.501	148.408	2.7	1.7	1.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	190.304	191.230	195.852	5.8	2.9	2.4
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	239.179	240.668	248.276	7.6	3.8	3.2
Durables	105.822	106.213	105.975	-1.3	0.1	-0.2
Services	331.260	332.527	332.917	3.7	0.5	0.1
Rent of shelter(2)	346.684	347.957	348.755	4.3	0.6	0.2
Transportation services	314.358	315.796	316.800	5.8	0.8	0.3
Other services	347.101	348.440	347.053	1.5	0.0	-0.4
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	249.529	250.474	251.555	3.3	0.8	0.4
All items less food	260.568	261.595	262.703	3.5	0.8	0.4
All items less shelter	234.313	235.254	236.418	2.6	0.9	0.5
Commodities less food	149.990	150.630	152.555	2.7	1.7	1.3
Nondurables	224.170	225.082	227.961	3.5	1.7	1.3
Nondurables less food	195.279	196.188	200.688	5.4	2.8	2.3
Nondurables less food and apparel	240.553	241.950	249.022	7.0	3.5	2.9
Services less rent of shelter(2)	348.681	350.084	350.002	3.0	0.4	0.0
Services less medical care services	317.878	318.969	319.393	3.8	0.5	0.1
Energy	249.957	252.436	263.443	10.8	5.4	4.4
All items less energy	262.878	263.788	264.114	2.7	0.5	0.1
All items less food and energy	264.619	265.534	265.809	2.9	0.4	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities	139.981	140.204	140.387	-0.1	0.3	0.1
Energy commodities	247.397	251.623	268.456	17.0	8.5	6.7
Services less energy services	337.056	338.416	338.739	3.8	0.5	0.1
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.