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News Release Information

24-514-SAN
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

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

Consumer Price Index, San Francisco Area — February 2024

Area prices were up 1.5 percent over the past two months, up 2.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.5 percent for the two months ending in February 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the February 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 2.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 2.4 percent. Energy prices advanced 4.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, San Francisco, February 2021-February 2024
Food

Food prices advanced 1.6 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 2.4 percent, with higher prices in four of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 2.4 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 2.3 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in all six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home rose 3.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 5.3 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (17.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 7.5 percent, while prices for gasoline fell 2.4 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 4.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (29.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service declined 12.9 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 2.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.2 percent), other goods and services (-1.8 percent), and medical care (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included other goods and services (6.6 percent), recreation (3.8 percent), and shelter (2.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in apparel (-3.8 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-0.7 percent).

Table A. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, 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

February

0.9 2.9 0.5 1.6 1.4 5.2 1.8 5.3 1.5 2.4

April

-0.5 1.1 1.7 3.8 1.5 5.0 0.4 4.2

June

0.7 1.6 0.0 3.2 1.7 6.8 0.5 2.9

August

0.0 1.6 0.5 3.7 -0.5 5.7 0.0 3.4

October

0.5 1.1 0.7 3.8 1.0 6.0 0.3 2.8

December

0.4 2.0 0.8 4.2 -0.3 4.9 -0.4 2.6

The April 2024 Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area is scheduled to be released on May 15, 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

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

Expenditure category

All items

339.915 - 345.151 2.4 1.5 -

All items (1967=100)

1,044.992 - 1,061.089 - - -

Food and beverages

363.840 - 369.175 2.6 1.5 -

Food

366.135 - 372.025 2.4 1.6 -

Food at home

329.906 333.477 337.705 2.3 2.4 1.3

Cereals and bakery products

339.664 337.277 341.261 3.5 0.5 1.2

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

354.307 351.883 352.233 0.3 -0.6 0.1

Dairy and related products

335.272 336.587 332.577 0.3 -0.8 -1.2

Fruits and vegetables

421.261 418.882 436.079 1.0 3.5 4.1

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

249.052 258.211 261.332 9.1 4.9 1.2

Other food at home

282.604 293.073 295.399 2.2 4.5 0.8

Food away from home

410.907 - 413.574 3.7 0.6 -

Alcoholic beverages

339.751 - 336.159 3.8 -1.1 -

Housing

394.624 - 400.750 2.6 1.6 -

Shelter

438.935 441.530 443.865 2.3 1.1 0.5

Rent of primary residence(2)

503.443 504.311 503.938 2.5 0.1 -0.1

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)

473.364 475.434 475.570 2.0 0.5 0.0

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

473.364 475.434 475.570 2.0 0.5 0.0

Fuels and utilities

589.028 - 646.485 10.4 9.8 -

Household energy

553.097 635.836 634.527 13.7 14.7 -0.2

Energy services(2)

555.858 640.737 639.406 14.1 15.0 -0.2

Electricity(2)

619.499 728.997 728.997 29.8 17.7 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service(2)

443.636 480.873 476.774 -12.9 7.5 -0.9

Household furnishings and operations

172.870 - 172.101 0.0 -0.4 -

Apparel

111.920 - 112.180 -3.8 0.2 -

Transportation

247.126 - 256.537 3.2 3.8 -

Private transportation

249.414 - 254.169 2.5 1.9 -

New and used motor vehicles(4)

115.797 - 118.298 -0.7 2.2 -

New vehicles(1)

192.742 - 193.419 -1.2 0.4 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

336.141 - 325.453 -1.9 -3.2 -

Motor fuel

340.105 335.924 331.815 -2.6 -2.4 -1.2

Gasoline (all types)

337.774 333.679 329.546 -2.6 -2.4 -1.2

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

337.497 333.242 328.983 -2.7 -2.5 -1.3

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

315.542 312.243 308.411 -2.6 -2.3 -1.2

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

321.384 318.020 314.537 -2.0 -2.1 -1.1

Medical care

592.166 - 586.760 - -0.9 -

Recreation(6)

147.155 - 149.805 3.8 1.8 -

Education and communication(6)

160.119 - 161.437 0.6 0.8 -

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

1,945.129 - 1,951.663 - 0.3 -

Other goods and services

629.293 - 617.911 6.6 -1.8 -

Commodity and service group

All items

339.915 - 345.151 2.4 1.5 -

Commodities

231.217 - 231.401 -0.8 0.1 -

Commodities less food & beverages

163.499 - 161.576 -3.2 -1.2 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

215.722 - 213.382 -2.9 -1.1 -

Durables

114.121 - 112.659 -3.5 -1.3 -

Services

431.650 - 441.194 3.9 2.2 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

329.449 - 335.127 2.5 1.7 -

All items less shelter

301.270 - 306.843 2.4 1.8 -

Commodities less food

171.059 - 169.056 -2.9 -1.2 -

Nondurables

291.148 - 292.666 0.4 0.5 -

Nondurables less food

225.330 - 222.891 -2.3 -1.1 -

Services less rent of shelter(3)

447.129 - 464.780 6.6 3.9 -

Services less medical care services

420.467 - 430.366 4.1 2.4 -

Energy

427.354 453.130 449.829 4.7 5.3 -0.7

All items less energy

339.937 - 344.555 2.3 1.4 -

All items less food and energy

336.781 - 341.209 2.2 1.3 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
(2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024