Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.1 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The August 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 rose 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 2.3 percent. Energy prices declined 6.4 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)  

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, West region, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2021	5.0	3.8
Sep 2021	5.3	4.0
Oct 2021	6.0	4.5
Nov 2021	6.5	4.8
Dec 2021	7.1	5.5
Jan 2022	7.7	6.2
Feb 2022	8.1	6.7
Mar 2022	8.7	6.8
Apr 2022	8.3	6.4
May 2022	8.3	6.2
Jun 2022	8.8	6.2
Jul 2022	8.3	6.3
Aug 2022	8.1	6.7
Sep 2022	8.3	6.8
Oct 2022	8.1	6.4
Nov 2022	7.1	6.0
Dec 2022	6.2	5.7
Jan 2023	6.3	5.6
Feb 2023	6.0	5.3
Mar 2023	5.1	5.5
Apr 2023	4.9	5.4
May 2023	4.5	5.3
Jun 2023	3.5	4.7
Jul 2023	3.5	4.3
Aug 2023	3.9	4.1
Sep 2023	3.9	3.9
Oct 2023	3.3	3.7
Nov 2023	3.3	3.7
Dec 2023	3.6	3.7
Jan 2024	3.3	3.7
Feb 2024	3.2	3.6
Mar 2024	3.6	3.8
Apr 2024	3.7	3.6
May 2024	3.3	3.3
Jun 2024	2.8	3.0
Jul 2024	2.6	3.0
Aug 2024	2.2	2.9

Food prices advanced 0.2 percent for the month of August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent, largely due to higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (1.2 percent) and dairy and related products (1.2 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.3 percent. Prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.8 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 4.8 percent.

The energy index decreased 0.9 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 1.2 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices declined 6.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-12.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 5.3 percent, while prices paid for electricity increased 4.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.1 percent in August. Higher prices for apparel (1.9 percent) and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for new and used motor vehicles (-0.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.1 percent), and recreation (-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 medical care (4.9 percent) and shelter (4.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-4.1 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.6 percent).

The September 2024 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on October 10, 2024.

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	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Aug. 2023	Jun. 2024	Jul. 2024
Expenditure category
All Items		333.662	333.174	333.442	2.2	-0.1	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)		539.346	538.558	538.991	-	-	-
Food and beverages		341.948	342.109	342.688	2.3	0.2	0.2
Food		344.320	344.560	345.168	2.3	0.2	0.2
Food at home		320.676	320.604	321.112	0.7	0.1	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		333.867	333.374	333.764	-0.6	0.0	0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		348.945	349.628	353.824	2.8	1.4	1.2
Dairy and related products		284.165	283.481	286.959	0.8	1.0	1.2
Fruits and vegetables		400.111	399.269	400.473	1.0	0.1	0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		223.986	223.390	223.332	-0.8	-0.3	0.0
Other food at home		279.187	279.686	276.891	0.2	-0.8	-1.0
Food away from home		377.964	378.716	379.477	4.8	0.4	0.2
Alcoholic beverages		305.628	304.572	304.718	2.2	-0.3	0.0
Housing		373.583	373.742	374.674	3.5	0.3	0.2
Shelter		429.865	431.089	432.345	4.2	0.6	0.3
Rent of primary residence(1)		456.998	459.088	460.199	4.1	0.7	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		451.562	453.221	454.992	4.3	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		451.333	452.990	454.750	4.3	0.8	0.4
Fuels and utilities		427.383	420.812	422.014	3.1	-1.3	0.3
Household energy		376.274	366.218	366.997	2.1	-2.5	0.2
Energy services(1)		379.943	369.478	370.385	2.3	-2.5	0.2
Electricity(1)		421.973	412.405	412.323	4.6	-2.3	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		301.603	287.908	291.485	-5.3	-3.4	1.2
Household furnishings and operations		157.596	156.646	156.422	-1.6	-0.7	-0.1
Apparel		126.699	124.486	126.865	0.6	0.1	1.9
Transportation		284.482	281.529	279.281	-1.0	-1.8	-0.8
Private transportation		282.659	280.529	279.038	-0.8	-1.3	-0.5
New and used motor vehicles(3)		123.370	123.294	122.903	-4.1	-0.4	-0.3
New vehicles		175.470	175.298	175.077	-1.4	-0.2	-0.1
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		173.291	173.095	172.778	-2.1	-0.3	-0.2
Used cars and trucks		173.893	171.475	170.376	-11.0	-2.0	-0.6
Motor fuel		350.324	342.312	336.506	-12.7	-3.9	-1.7
Gasoline (all types)		349.287	341.171	335.351	-12.6	-4.0	-1.7
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		344.810	336.688	330.830	-12.9	-4.1	-1.7
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		334.779	327.111	321.677	-11.9	-3.9	-1.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		345.038	337.418	332.076	-11.2	-3.8	-1.6
Medical Care		609.095	611.794	611.401	4.9	0.4	-0.1
Medical care commodities		476.071	479.551	476.510	3.4	0.1	-0.6
Medical care services		650.175	652.617	653.074	5.2	0.4	0.1
Professional services		424.767	426.774	426.918	4.2	0.5	0.0
Recreation(3)		131.248	131.227	131.086	0.2	-0.1	-0.1
Education and communication(3)		143.827	143.742	144.345	0.9	0.4	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,675.543	1,672.482	1,696.525	3.2	1.3	1.4
Other goods and services		554.723	554.326	555.140	1.6	0.1	0.1
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		333.662	333.174	333.442	2.2	-0.1	0.1
Commodities		227.716	226.547	226.365	-1.7	-0.6	-0.1
Commodities less food & beverages		174.207	172.630	172.188	-4.1	-1.2	-0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages		233.627	230.925	230.838	-3.8	-1.2	0.0
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		308.662	305.596	303.848	-5.0	-1.6	-0.6
Durables		122.672	121.907	121.299	-4.6	-1.1	-0.5
Services		432.389	432.604	433.320	4.5	0.2	0.2
Rent of shelter(2)		458.400	459.735	461.081	4.3	0.6	0.3
Transportation services		426.172	422.480	419.338	10.1	-1.6	-0.7
Other services		414.914	416.073	417.241	2.1	0.6	0.3
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		320.974	320.354	320.649	2.0	-0.1	0.1
All items less food		332.105	331.508	331.725	2.2	-0.1	0.1
All items less shelter		295.719	294.494	294.342	1.0	-0.5	-0.1
Commodities less food		179.008	177.424	176.990	-3.8	-1.1	-0.2
Nondurables		287.650	286.295	286.525	-0.5	-0.4	0.1
Nondurables less food		239.151	236.517	236.440	-3.4	-1.1	0.0
Nondurables less food and apparel		307.879	304.990	303.406	-4.4	-1.5	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)		448.076	446.783	446.722	4.9	-0.3	0.0
Services less medical care services		417.045	417.114	417.845	4.4	0.2	0.2
Energy		368.735	359.673	356.605	-6.4	-3.3	-0.9
All items less energy		334.128	334.164	334.639	2.8	0.2	0.1
All items less food and energy		333.265	333.268	333.723	2.9	0.1	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities		160.602	159.623	159.695	-2.3	-0.6	0.0
Energy commodities		356.599	348.643	342.758	-12.6	-3.9	-1.7
Services less energy services		437.197	437.954	438.663	4.6	0.3	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.