From 2006 to 2007 consumer prices in the Honolulu metropolitan area rose 4.8 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. city average for the same period rose 2.8 percent. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden said higher costs for housing had the largest impact on the overall increase in the Honolulu area. The Honolulu all items less food and energy index rose 4.8 percent, matching the overall increase. Local area CPI data are not seasonally adjusted.

Prices associated with housing rose 7.2 percent in 2007. Housing consists of three components: shelter, fuels and utilities, and household furnishings and operations. In 2007, shelter advanced 7.6 percent, fuels and utilities advanced 5.3 percent, and household furnishings operations advanced 1.7 percent.

Prices for food and beverages rose 5.5 percent in 2007. Grocery prices, represented by the food at home index, rose 6.1 percent last year, the largest annual advance since 1990. Food away from home rose 4.9 percent and alcoholic beverage prices increased 3.4 percent on an annual basis since 2006.

The overall transportation index rose 1.4 percent from the 2006 annual average. Gasoline prices rose 4.2 percent in 2007, compared to 14.9 percent in 2006. Private transportation, which includes gasoline as well as new and used cars, rose 1.5 percent over the past year.

In 2007, the education and communication index was unchanged, while the recreation index rose 1.5 percent. Miscellaneous other goods and services prices advanced 4.6 percent in 2007.

The Honolulu Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) measured 219.504 (1982-84=100) for the 2007 annual average. This means a market basket of goods and services that cost $100.00 in 1982-84 would have cost $219.50 in 2007.

Effective with this release of the first half of 2007 semiannual Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics displays CPI index values to three decimal places in all paper and electronic publications. This change applies to the All Items Consume Price Index and all component indexes for the CPI-U, CPI-W, and C-CPI-U, for the U.S. City Average and for all other published areas. In addition, percent changes are computed based upon the three decimal place indexes rather than the current one decimal place indexes. Percent changes continue to be rounded to 1 decimal place.

This change in procedure addresses a rounding issue that has resulted in published percent changes that are 0.1 percentage point higher or lower than the same percent changes based on unrounded index values (i.e., indexes to three or more decimal places). These differences can be particularly important when percent changes are very small. Publishing the index values to three decimal places, and using these values to compute percent changes, essentially eliminates the rounding differences. This change only affects the presentation of the index data. The index values continue to be calculated from underlying price data in the same manner as in the past, and no systematic upward or downward effect on the data has been introduced. The levels of future indexes will be affected only in that they will be published to three decimal places rather than one. Official CPI data previously published will not be revised.