Prices in the Seattle area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in April 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the April increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline. (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 increased 4.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 0.9 percent. Energy prices advanced 3.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, April 2021–April 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Apr 2021	3.4	2.7
Jun 2021	5.5	4.6
Aug 2021	5.2	4.1
Oct 2021	6.5	5.3
Dec 2021	7.6	6.5
Feb 2022	8.1	7.0
Apr 2022	9.1	7.8
Jun 2022	10.1	8.8
Aug 2022	9.0	8.2
Oct 2022	8.9	7.7
Dec 2022	8.4	8.1
Feb 2023	8.0	7.7
Apr 2023	6.9	7.3
Jun 2023	4.6	5.3
Aug 2023	5.4	5.7
Oct 2023	4.8	5.5
Dec 2023	4.4	4.9
Feb 2024	4.3	5.2
Apr 2024	4.4	4.9

Food prices declined 0.2 percent for the two months ending in April. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.5 percent, led by lower prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-5.2 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 0.9 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (9.3 percent). Prices for food away from home declined 0.8 percent.

The energy index rose 10.6 percent for the two months ending in April. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (15.6 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 16.4 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 3.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (4.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity rose 7.5 percent, while natural gas service prices fell 10.6 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (1.4 percent) and medical care (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-4.4 percent) and education and communication (-0.8 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.9 percent. Higher prices for medical care (13.3 percent) and shelter (5.9 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-7.5 percent) and apparel (-2.1 percent).

The June 2024 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle area is scheduled to be released on July 11, 2024.

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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024	Apr. 2024	Apr. 2023	Feb. 2024	Mar. 2024
Expenditure category
All items		349.288	-	353.503	4.4	1.2	-
All items (1967=100)		1,064.765	-	1,077.614	-	-	-
Food and beverages		360.356	-	361.464	1.5	0.3	-
Food		363.760	-	363.183	0.9	-0.2	-
Food at home		325.596	323.839	324.107	1.9	-0.5	0.1
Cereals and bakery products		410.426	389.019	403.855	9.3	-1.6	3.8
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		281.956	288.809	290.037	2.9	2.9	0.4
Dairy and related products		293.671	284.480	291.910	-1.7	-0.6	2.6
Fruits and vegetables		512.525	512.961	509.577	4.6	-0.6	-0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		431.649	427.470	409.145	-1.3	-5.2	-4.3
Other food at home		247.089	247.710	246.634	-0.8	-0.2	-0.4
Food away from home		423.476	-	424.932	-0.8	0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages		315.937	-	333.192	7.5	5.5	-
Housing		417.527	-	422.864	5.3	1.3	-
Shelter		480.280	482.995	486.764	5.9	1.4	0.8
Rent of primary residence(2)		485.044	487.762	491.994	5.9	1.4	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		506.812	506.997	511.503	6.4	0.9	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		506.812	506.997	511.503	6.4	0.9	0.9
Fuels and utilities		330.417	-	339.154	4.3	2.6	-
Household energy		289.127	291.172	301.420	2.3	4.3	3.5
Energy services(2)		340.028	342.509	354.834	2.5	4.4	3.6
Electricity(2)		385.321	385.388	390.988	7.5	1.5	1.5
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		170.790	177.128	198.832	-10.6	16.4	12.3
Household furnishings and operations		232.258	-	230.900	1.9	-0.6	-
Apparel		137.896	-	131.841	-2.1	-4.4	-
Transportation		298.729	-	309.048	5.5	3.5	-
Private transportation		309.822	-	323.430	6.1	4.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		124.062	-	124.157	-2.0	0.1	-
New vehicles(1)		225.255	-	224.721	0.2	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		411.375	-	409.478	-7.5	-0.5	-
Motor fuel		455.550	490.124	524.752	3.8	15.2	7.1
Gasoline (all types)		463.037	499.247	535.293	4.0	15.6	7.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		499.601	539.238	579.004	3.8	15.9	7.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		370.106	397.938	425.400	4.4	14.9	6.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		435.740	468.096	499.356	5.1	14.6	6.7
Medical care		482.691	-	488.025	13.3	1.1	-
Recreation(6)		123.398	-	124.379	1.2	0.8	-
Education and communication(6)		149.770	-	148.552	0.7	-0.8	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		525.481	-	527.206	-	0.3	-
Commodity and service group
All items		349.288	-	353.503	4.4	1.2	-
Commodities		242.769	-	246.024	0.5	1.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages		188.560	-	192.197	0.0	1.9	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		226.346	-	234.562	2.5	3.6	-
Durables		151.741	-	152.479	-2.2	0.5	-
Services		448.653	-	453.781	6.8	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		343.503	-	347.676	3.9	1.2	-
All items less shelter		298.858	-	302.164	3.6	1.1	-
Commodities less food		193.419	-	197.457	0.3	2.1	-
Nondurables		290.693	-	295.899	2.0	1.8	-
Nondurables less food		233.863	-	242.751	3.0	3.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		421.576	-	424.901	8.3	0.8	-
Services less medical care services		441.640	-	446.966	6.4	1.2	-
Energy		381.933	399.896	422.431	3.2	10.6	5.6
All items less energy		351.140	-	353.626	4.4	0.7	-
All items less food and energy		349.023	-	351.879	4.9	0.8	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 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.