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News Release Information

23-2443-SAN
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, West Region — October 2023

Area prices were up 0.1 percent over the past month, up 3.3 percent from a year ago

Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The October 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 3.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.5 percent. Energy prices declined 0.8 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.3 percent for the month of October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.3 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (1.2 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.5 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.2 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home advanced 5.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.6 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.8 percent). Prices for electricity rose 1.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 0.8 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 10.4 percent, and prices for natural gas service advanced 8.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in October. Higher prices for shelter (0.2 percent) and household furnishings and operations (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-0.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.6 percent) and recreation (4.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-7.1 percent).

Table A. West region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month 1-month 12-month

January

0.2 2.7 0.3 2.9 0.2 1.4 0.9 7.7 0.9 6.3

February

0.2 2.4 0.4 3.1 0.5 1.6 0.8 8.1 0.5 6.0

March

0.4 2.4 -0.2 2.5 0.7 2.4 1.3 8.7 0.5 5.1

April

0.8 2.9 -0.4 1.3 1.0 3.9 0.7 8.3 0.5 4.9

May

0.5 2.9 0.1 0.8 0.8 4.7 0.8 8.3 0.4 4.5

June

0.0 2.7 0.4 1.2 0.9 5.1 1.2 8.8 0.3 3.5

July

0.0 2.7 0.5 1.7 0.6 5.2 0.1 8.3 0.1 3.5

August

0.1 2.6 0.3 1.9 0.2 5.0 0.0 8.1 0.4 3.9

September

0.3 2.6 0.0 1.6 0.2 5.3 0.3 8.3 0.4 3.9

October

0.5 2.8 0.2 1.2 0.8 6.0 0.7 8.1 0.1 3.3

November

-0.1 2.8 0.0 1.4 0.5 6.5 -0.4 7.1

December

-0.2 2.8 -0.1 1.5 0.4 7.1 -0.4 6.2

The November 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on December 12, 2023.


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for the West Region is published monthly. 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 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, 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 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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-
Historical
data
Aug.
2023
Sep.
2023
Oct.
2023
Oct.
2022
Aug.
2023
Sep.
2023

Expenditure category

All Items

326.234 327.491 327.708 3.3 0.5 0.1

All items (December 1977=100)

527.340 529.372 529.722 - - -

Food and beverages

335.089 335.380 336.491 3.4 0.4 0.3

Food

337.512 337.595 338.775 3.5 0.4 0.3

Food at home

318.756 318.187 319.135 2.2 0.1 0.3

Cereals and bakery products

335.896 331.317 335.184 4.6 -0.2 1.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

344.174 346.597 348.047 1.4 1.1 0.4

Dairy and related products

284.593 281.581 283.859 0.0 -0.3 0.8

Fruits and vegetables

396.348 395.854 397.123 1.3 0.2 0.3

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

225.210 223.460 225.054 2.0 -0.1 0.7

Other food at home

276.216 276.840 275.318 3.3 -0.3 -0.5

Food away from home

362.061 363.488 365.100 5.7 0.8 0.4

Alcoholic beverages

298.075 301.188 301.343 2.5 1.1 0.1

Housing

361.936 363.160 364.145 5.5 0.6 0.3

Shelter

414.761 416.666 417.624 5.6 0.7 0.2

Rent of primary residence(1)

441.884 444.340 446.285 6.5 1.0 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

436.052 438.361 440.068 5.7 0.9 0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

435.839 438.153 439.852 5.7 0.9 0.4

Fuels and utilities

409.439 410.191 412.985 8.7 0.9 0.7

Household energy

359.290 360.851 364.448 9.7 1.4 1.0

Energy services(1)

362.155 363.648 367.234 10.2 1.4 1.0

Electricity(1)

394.357 395.835 400.654 10.4 1.6 1.2

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

307.813 309.449 310.218 8.9 0.8 0.2

Household furnishings and operations

158.904 158.270 158.655 2.3 -0.2 0.2

Apparel

126.129 126.985 127.133 1.4 0.8 0.1

Transportation

282.174 283.269 281.600 -2.0 -0.2 -0.6

Private transportation

281.415 282.719 280.872 -1.5 -0.2 -0.7

New and used motor vehicles(3)

128.121 124.950 124.069 -3.2 -3.2 -0.7

New vehicles

177.631 177.585 177.110 1.4 -0.3 -0.3

New cars and trucks(3)(4)

- - - - - -

New cars(4)

176.411 176.575 176.255 0.8 -0.1 -0.2

Used cars and trucks

191.354 180.132 177.941 -7.1 -7.0 -1.2

Motor fuel

385.366 409.534 402.155 -7.2 4.4 -1.8

Gasoline (all types)

383.575 407.138 399.797 -7.2 4.2 -1.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

379.946 403.614 395.928 -7.4 4.2 -1.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

365.104 387.187 381.431 -6.8 4.5 -1.5

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

373.938 395.635 390.016 -6.4 4.3 -1.4

Medical Care

582.797 590.018 590.688 2.1 1.4 0.1

Medical care commodities

460.952 458.944 458.240 5.7 -0.6 -0.2

Medical care services

620.667 630.633 631.709 1.4 1.8 0.2

Professional services

409.657 409.466 410.627 3.2 0.2 0.3

Recreation(3)

130.827 131.381 131.154 4.6 0.2 -0.2

Education and communication(3)

143.073 143.619 143.240 0.0 0.1 -0.3

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)

1,644.339 1,657.905 1,648.649 1.4 0.3 -0.6

Other goods and services

546.275 546.692 548.103 7.5 0.3 0.3

Commodity and Service Group

All Items

326.234 327.491 327.708 3.3 0.5 0.1

Commodities

230.254 230.935 230.383 0.0 0.1 -0.2

Commodities less food & beverages

179.482 180.227 179.212 -2.2 -0.2 -0.6

Nondurables less food & beverages

239.979 245.570 244.012 -1.4 1.7 -0.6

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel

319.783 328.689 325.938 -2.0 1.9 -0.8

Durables

127.089 125.350 124.730 -2.6 -1.9 -0.5

Services

414.611 416.435 417.486 5.3 0.7 0.3

Rent of shelter(2)

442.249 444.297 445.315 5.7 0.7 0.2

Transportation services

380.872 381.378 383.000 4.3 0.6 0.4

Other services

408.719 409.126 408.573 4.7 0.0 -0.1

Special aggregate indexes:

All items less medical care

314.361 315.364 315.562 3.4 0.4 0.1

All items less food

324.573 325.998 326.077 3.2 0.5 0.0

All items less shelter

291.418 292.414 292.326 2.0 0.3 0.0

Commodities less food

184.076 184.879 183.877 -2.1 -0.1 -0.5

Nondurables

287.987 291.197 290.857 1.4 1.0 -0.1

Nondurables less food

244.773 250.263 248.790 -1.2 1.6 -0.6

Nondurables less food and apparel

317.308 325.679 323.193 -1.6 1.9 -0.8

Services less rent of shelter(2)

425.975 427.705 428.928 4.9 0.7 0.3

Services less medical care services

400.114 401.383 402.431 5.8 0.6 0.3

Energy

380.890 395.266 392.724 -0.8 3.1 -0.6

All items less energy

325.450 325.916 326.303 3.7 0.3 0.1

All items less food and energy

324.264 324.791 325.056 3.7 0.2 0.1

Commodities less food and energy commodities

163.371 162.356 161.862 -0.3 -0.9 -0.3

Energy commodities

391.970 416.303 408.985 -7.1 4.3 -1.8

Services less energy services

419.315 421.165 422.081 5.1 0.7 0.2

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2023