Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.5 percent in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and apparel. (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 2.2 percent. (See chart 1.) Energy prices rose 3.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent since September 2011.

Food

Food prices inched up 0.1 percent for the month of September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home were unchanged, and prices for food away from home rose 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.6 percent. Prices for food at home edged up 0.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 3.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 2.5 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.4 percent). Prices for electricity declined 0.7 percent, and prices for natural gas service declined 2.0 percent in September.

Energy prices rose 3.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (5.5 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 1.1 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 8.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in September. Higher prices for components including apparel (4.3 percent), education and communication (0.6 percent), recreation (0.3 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent), were partially offset by lower prices for categories such as used cars and trucks (-2.7 percent) and other goods and services (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (3.9 percent), apparel (3.8 percent), and shelter (2.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in used cars and trucks (-2.4 percent).

CPI-W

In September, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 228.798, up 0.5 percent from August. The CPI-W increased 2.0 percent over the year.

The October 2012 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on November 15, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. (PST).

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 88 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the San Francisco Information Office at (415) 625-2270 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT.

 

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Last Modified Date: October 16, 2012