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News Release Information

24-304-SAN
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, Honolulu Area — January 2024

Area prices were up 0.5 percent over the past two months, up 3.9 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent for the two months ending in January 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the January increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 3.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 4.5 percent. Energy prices fell 6.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.7 percent for the two months ending in January. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.5 percent, influenced by higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (4.3 percent) and other food at home (2.4 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.9 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 4.5 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 1.6 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for other food at home (4.7 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.8 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 8.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 0.9 percent for the two months ending in January. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-1.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 6.7 percent, while prices for electricity advanced 0.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices fell 6.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-7.8 percent). Prices paid for electricity decreased 3.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service fell 1.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (2.5 percent) and shelter (1.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.8 percent) and medical care (-2.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (8.1 percent) and other goods and services (8.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in new and used motor vehicles (-4.7 percent) and education and communication education and communication (-1.9 percent).

Table A. Urban Hawaii CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

January

0.5 1.7 0.3 1.4 0.9 6.0 0.3 5.2 0.5 3.9

March

0.6 1.8 0.9 1.8 2.4 7.5 0.6 3.3

May

0.2 1.3 2.1 3.8 1.6 7.0 0.3 2.0

July

0.0 1.3 0.8 4.6 0.6 6.8 0.7 2.1

September

0.6 1.9 1.0 5.0 0.8 6.6 0.9 2.2

November

-0.2 1.6 0.1 5.4 -0.6 5.8 0.8 3.6

The March 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2024.


Technical Note

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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

Indexes Percent change from-
Historical
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Jan.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023

Expenditure category

All items

331.428 - 333.172 3.9 0.5 -

All items (1967=100)

912.411 - 917.214 - - -

Food and beverages

359.459 - 361.686 4.2 0.6 -

Food

363.610 - 366.034 4.5 0.7 -

Food at home

346.298 346.725 347.976 1.6 0.5 0.4

Cereals and bakery products

408.836 394.535 395.720 1.9 -3.2 0.3

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

334.312 333.270 322.865 2.8 -3.4 -3.1

Dairy and related products

283.107 284.529 289.320 0.7 2.2 1.7

Fruits and vegetables

397.161 404.200 407.129 -2.7 2.5 0.7

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

410.363 406.839 428.038 0.0 4.3 5.2

Other food at home

342.777 347.683 350.889 4.7 2.4 0.9

Food away from home

378.059 - 381.486 8.5 0.9 -

Alcoholic beverages

289.235 - 286.528 -2.3 -0.9 -

Housing

357.189 - 362.002 6.6 1.3 -

Shelter

386.997 387.953 392.584 8.1 1.4 1.2

Rent of primary residence(2)

391.502 392.865 395.080 9.7 0.9 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

397.707 398.798 403.658 7.5 1.5 1.2

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

397.707 398.798 403.658 7.5 1.5 1.2

Fuels and utilities

464.486 - 463.982 -2.7 -0.1 -

Household energy

397.222 389.760 397.108 -4.1 0.0 1.9

Energy services

390.528 383.080 390.515 -3.8 0.0 1.9

Electricity

388.783 382.609 390.313 -3.9 0.4 2.0

Utility (piped) gas service

352.210 325.759 328.572 -1.5 -6.7 0.9

Household furnishings and operations

165.760 - 169.849 4.4 2.5 -

Apparel

122.509 - 126.701 2.1 3.4 -

Transportation

268.762 - 265.135 -2.2 -1.3 -

Private transportation

278.306 - 275.140 -2.5 -1.1 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

124.004 - 121.004 -4.7 -2.4 -

New vehicles(1)

187.276 - 188.256 -2.0 0.5 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

320.238 - 308.181 -3.5 -3.8 -

Motor fuel

366.596 361.876 360.907 -7.7 -1.6 -0.3

Gasoline (all types)

376.153 371.383 370.381 -7.8 -1.5 -0.3

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

390.212 385.332 384.400 -7.9 -1.5 -0.2

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

312.921 309.385 308.091 -7.7 -1.5 -0.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

353.764 348.984 347.720 -7.5 -1.7 -0.4

Medical care

518.571 - 507.812 - -2.1 -

Recreation(3)

149.740 - 149.924 1.8 0.1 -

Education and communication(3)

154.010 - 153.765 -1.9 -0.2 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

2,007.393 - 2,007.393 4.4 0.0 -

Other goods and services

622.587 - 637.126 8.0 2.3 -

Commodity and service group

All items

331.428 - 333.172 3.9 0.5 -

Commodities

250.134 - 250.973 -0.1 0.3 -

Commodities less food & beverages

185.458 - 185.602 -3.6 0.1 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

242.777 - 243.724 -3.4 0.4 -

Durables

127.241 - 127.015 -3.7 -0.2 -

Services

402.548 - 405.056 5.9 0.6 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

321.418 - 323.806 4.2 0.7 -

All items less shelter

307.940 - 307.581 0.9 -0.1 -

Commodities less food

189.603 - 189.701 -3.5 0.1 -

Nondurables

303.342 - 304.917 1.1 0.5 -

Nondurables less food

245.712 - 246.511 -3.3 0.3 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

420.024 - 416.949 2.1 -0.7 -

Services less medical care services

391.976 - 395.511 6.0 0.9 -

Energy

380.624 374.488 377.077 -6.0 -0.9 0.7

All items less energy

330.516 - 332.645 4.7 0.6 -

All items less food and energy

326.612 - 328.691 4.7 0.6 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
(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.

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2024