Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 0.5 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The December decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline and apparel. (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 1.3 percent. (See chart 1.) Energy prices fell 10.6 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent since December 2013.

Food

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 0.5 percent, and prices for food away from home edged up 0.2 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 3.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 4.5 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 2.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 6.2 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-11.0 percent). Prices for electricity declined 0.9 percent, but prices paid for natural gas service advanced 2.5 percent in December.

Energy prices fell 10.6 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-19.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity decreased 0.7 percent, but prices for natural gas service jumped 10.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched down 0.1 percent in December. Lower prices for apparel (-3.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (-0.6 percent), and recreation (-0.4 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for medical care (0.6 percent) and shelter (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (3.6 percent) and medical care (3.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in apparel (-1.4 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.8 percent).

CPI-W

In December, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) was 232.108, down 0.6 percent from November. The CPI-W increased 0.8 percent over the year.

The January 2015 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on February 26, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. (PST).

Technical Note

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339.

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-
	Oct. 2014	Nov. 2014	Dec. 2014	Dec. 2013	Oct. 2014	Nov. 2014
Expenditure category
All Items	241.650	240.220	239.095	1.3	-1.1	-0.5
All items (December 1977=100)	390.614	388.302	386.484
Food and beverages	247.548	247.802	248.679	3.7	0.5	0.4
Food	247.685	247.840	248.803	3.8	0.5	0.4
Food at home	248.815	248.290	249.592	4.5	0.3	0.5
Food away from home	244.875	245.987	246.468	2.9	0.7	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	242.407	243.905	243.682	1.8	0.5	-0.1
Housing	248.766	248.633	249.072	3.1	0.1	0.2
Shelter	279.364	280.264	281.000	3.6	0.6	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1)	292.639	294.000	294.877	3.9	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	293.171	294.323	295.058	3.3	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	293.163	294.313	295.047	3.3	0.6	0.2
Fuels and utilities	278.793	271.476	272.267	3.0	-2.3	0.3
Household energy	247.639	238.047	237.907	1.8	-3.9	-0.1
Energy services (1)	249.286	239.340	239.150	1.9	-4.1	-0.1
Electricity (1)	271.059	261.281	258.855	-0.7	-4.5	-0.9
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	213.146	202.164	207.308	10.3	-2.7	2.5
Household furnishings and operations	129.292	128.939	128.131	-0.8	-0.9	-0.6
Apparel	123.770	120.544	116.587	-1.4	-5.8	-3.3
Transportation	212.341	205.842	198.919	-5.3	-6.3	-3.4
Private transportation	206.135	199.259	192.744	-5.7	-6.5	-3.3
New and used motor vehicles (3)	100.634	99.742	99.351	-1.6	-1.3	-0.4
New vehicles	145.305	145.046	145.050	-0.1	-0.2	0.0
New cars and trucks (3) (4)	100.977	100.810	100.847	0.0	-0.1	0.0
New cars (4)	145.862	145.383	145.247	-0.4	-0.4	-0.1
Used cars and trucks	143.669	139.972	137.692	-4.7	-4.2	-1.6
Motor fuel	279.670	252.545	224.945	-19.1	-19.6	-10.9
Gasoline (all types)	278.053	250.701	223.075	-19.3	-19.8	-11.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular (4)	276.842	249.180	221.296	-19.5	-20.1	-11.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (4) (5)	261.764	237.765	211.919	-18.7	-19.0	-10.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (4)	265.285	240.636	215.594	-18.3	-18.7	-10.4
Medical Care	441.619	443.823	446.377	3.1	1.1	0.6
Medical care commodities	332.323	334.974	340.579	4.5	2.5	1.7
Medical care services	476.557	478.535	479.809	2.7	0.7	0.3
Professional services	331.887	333.251	332.813	1.9	0.3	-0.1
Recreation (3)	110.306	109.476	109.058	0.0	-1.1	-0.4
Education and communication (3)	138.608	138.279	138.071	-0.2	-0.4	-0.2
Other goods and services	399.301	398.965	399.426	1.2	0.0	0.1
Commodity and Service Group
All Items	241.650	240.220	239.095	1.3	-1.1	-0.5
Commodities	184.075	181.169	178.573	-1.4	-3.0	-1.4
Commodities less food & beverages	151.530	147.422	143.483	-4.7	-5.3	-2.7
Nondurables less food & beverages	196.375	188.918	181.257	-6.1	-7.7	-4.1
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	247.451	237.077	226.847	-7.7	-8.3	-4.3
Durables	110.173	109.111	108.556	-2.5	-1.5	-0.5
Services	294.449	294.457	294.763	2.9	0.1	0.1
Rent of shelter (2)	297.187	298.151	298.941	3.6	0.6	0.3
Transportation services	279.748	280.444	278.753	2.4	-0.4	-0.6
Other services	333.922	333.220	332.790	0.8	-0.3	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care	232.431	230.862	229.595	1.1	-1.2	-0.5
All items less food	240.891	239.208	237.750	0.9	-1.3	-0.6
All items less shelter	227.755	225.318	223.389	0.0	-1.9	-0.9
Commodities less food	155.107	151.140	147.288	-4.4	-5.0	-2.5
Nondurables	222.706	218.783	215.043	-1.1	-3.4	-1.7
Nondurables less food	200.136	193.178	185.924	-5.6	-7.1	-3.8
Nondurables less food and apparel	246.587	237.370	228.117	-6.8	-7.5	-3.9
Services less rent of shelter (2)	324.417	323.174	322.879	2.0	-0.5	-0.1
Services less medical care services	281.767	281.662	281.909	2.9	0.1	0.1
Energy	267.981	248.536	233.116	-10.6	-13.0	-6.2
All items less energy	241.613	241.536	241.484	2.3	-0.1	0.0
All items less food and energy	241.310	241.191	240.962	2.0	-0.1	-0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities	141.275	140.037	138.982	-0.9	-1.6	-0.8
Energy commodities	284.045	257.049	229.604	-18.8	-19.2	-10.7
Services less energy services	298.066	298.710	299.047	2.9	0.3	0.1
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) Index is 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.
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.