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News Release Information

16-120-SAN
Wednesday, January 20, 2016

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

Consumer Price Index, Anchorage – Second Half 2015

Area prices were down 0.2 percent over the past six months, down 0.1 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Anchorage Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.2 percent in the second half of 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.).) Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted this latest six-month decrease was influenced by lower prices for recreation and gasoline. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, six-month-to-six-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U edged down 0.1 percent. (See chart 1) Energy prices dropped 13.2 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent over the year.

Food

Food prices remained unchanged in the second half of 2015. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.2 percent, and prices for food away from home increased 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 0.8 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 1.8 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home moved up 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 3.3 percent since the first half of 2015. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-3.0 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 8.3 percent, but prices for electricity increased 0.9 percent for the same period.

Energy prices dropped 13.2 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-25.1 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service moved down 5.1 percent, but prices for electricity moved up 5.9 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in the latest six-month period. Higher prices for apparel (3.7 percent), medical care (1.1 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-1.7 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (2.7 percent), medical care (3.5 percent), and shelter (1.6 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in recreation (-1.4 percent) and other goods and services (-0.6 percent).

Table A. Anchorage CPI-U semi-annual and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month201020112012201320142015
Semi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnualSemi-annualAnnual

First Half

0.72.52.52.81.32.52.12.70.41.90.11.1

Second Half

0.31.01.13.60.72.01.43.5 1.01.4 -0.2-0.1

The first half of 2016 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage is scheduled to be released on July 15, 2016.


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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 Anchorage, AK. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Anchorage Borough in the State of Alaska.

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 for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods

Anchorage, AK (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Semiannual average indexes
 
Percent change to
2nd half 2015 from-
2nd half
2014
1st half
2015
2nd half
2015
2nd half
2014
1st half
2015

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

216.833217.111216.706-0.1-0.2

All items (1967=100)

578.759579.500578.418--

Food and beverages

208.626210.268210.1200.7-0.1

Food

214.395216.122216.1500.80.0

Food at home

215.980216.866216.3610.2-0.2

Food away from home

210.999213.840214.7151.80.4

Alcoholic beverages

150.323151.103149.191-0.8-1.3

Housing

197.919201.025200.7341.4-0.1

Shelter

201.388203.999204.6811.60.3

Rent of primary residence

199.024201.004201.3201.20.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1)

203.023205.315206.1921.60.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1)

203.023205.315206.1921.60.4

Fuels and utilities

287.514299.184290.1160.9-3.0

Household energy

299.673309.502298.761-0.3-3.5

Energy services

327.750341.643330.2230.8-3.3

Electricity

269.702282.993285.6795.90.9

Utility (piped) gas service

412.794427.050391.600-5.1-8.3

Household furnishings and operations

126.188126.824126.4760.2-0.3

Apparel

157.839156.327162.1702.73.7

Transportation

224.134212.071208.790-6.8-1.5

Private transportation

227.948213.479210.999-7.4-1.2

Motor fuel

301.754233.301225.864-25.1-3.2

Gasoline (all types)

302.434233.608226.490-25.1-3.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular (2)

294.223226.641219.648-25.3-3.1

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (2) (3)

285.221221.460214.863-24.7-3.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium (2)

294.080230.024223.439-24.0-2.9

Medical care

493.189504.742510.2283.51.1

Recreation (4)

120.625120.976118.896-1.4-1.7

Education and communication (4)

116.547119.529119.2682.3-0.2

Other goods and services

331.638329.681329.651-0.60.0
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All Items

216.833217.111216.706-0.1-0.2

Commodities

182.008177.742177.150-2.7-0.3

Commodities less food & beverages

167.832160.545159.726-4.8-0.5

Nondurables less food & beverages

216.666201.039202.718-6.40.8

Durables

126.031126.401123.220-2.2-2.5

Services

246.399250.782250.5491.7-0.1
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

206.600206.540205.962-0.3-0.3

All items less shelter

222.257221.304220.345-0.9-0.4

Commodities less food

167.454160.508159.639-4.7-0.5

Nondurables

213.466206.749207.485-2.80.4

Nondurables less food

211.909197.659199.027-6.10.7

Services less rent of shelter (1)

318.519325.761323.9231.7-0.6

Services less medical care services

229.896233.861233.5421.6-0.1

Energy

295.204265.053256.191-13.2-3.3

All items less energy

212.378214.495214.6591.10.1

All items less food and energy

212.343214.538214.7271.10.1

Footnotes
(1) Index is on a December 1982=100 base.
(2) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(3) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, January 20, 2016