Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.4 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and electricity. (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 2.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices decreased 0.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

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

Over the year, food prices inched up 0.1 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 3.6 percent since a year ago, but prices for food at home decreased 2.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 2.7 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (5.6 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 1.6 percent, and prices for natural gas service were virtually unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 0.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-5.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 11.2 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 4.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy crept up 0.2 percent in October. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (1.0 percent) and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for other goods and services (-0.8 percent) and apparel (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (7.7 percent) and shelter (5.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-3.6 percent) and apparel (-1.4 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County CPI-U monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)

Month	2011		2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual	Monthly	Annual
January	0.9	1.8	0.8	2.1	0.8	2.0	0.5	0.8	-0.3	-0.1	0.7	3.1
February	0.5	2.3	0.5	2.1	0.7	2.2	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.0	2.4
March	1.1	3.0	1.0	2.0	0.1	1.3	0.6	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.7
April	0.5	3.3	0.0	1.5	-0.4	0.9	0.0	1.4	-0.1	0.5	0.2	2.0
May	0.0	3.1	0.1	1.6	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.5	1.4
June	-0.4	2.9	-0.4	1.6	-0.1	1.4	0.1	1.8	-0.3	0.8	0.1	1.8
July	-0.4	2.4	-0.1	1.9	-0.1	1.3	0.1	2.0	0.7	1.4	0.0	1.1
August	0.2	2.4	0.6	2.3	0.1	0.8	-0.1	1.8	-0.3	1.1	0.0	1.4
September	0.5	3.1	0.4	2.2	0.2	0.6	0.0	1.7	-0.4	0.7	0.2	1.9
October	0.0	2.8	0.8	3.0	0.1	-0.1	-0.1	1.4	0.2	1.0	0.4	2.2
November	-0.1	3.0	-1.0	2.1	-0.5	0.4	-0.7	1.3	0.0	1.6
December	-0.5	2.2	-0.7	1.9	0.0	1.1	-0.5	0.7	-0.1	2.0

The November 2016 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County is scheduled to be released on December 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 Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura Counties in the State of California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods

Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, CA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Aug. 2016	Sep. 2016	Oct. 2016	Oct. 2015	Aug. 2016	Sep. 2016
Expenditure category
All items	249.700	250.145	251.098	2.2	0.6	0.4
All items (1967=100)	737.723	739.038	741.855	-	-	-
Food and beverages	250.820	250.958	251.982	0.3	0.5	0.4
Food	250.771	250.961	251.921	0.1	0.5	0.4
Food at home	253.217	253.368	254.659	-2.4	0.6	0.5
Food away from home	243.992	244.226	244.766	3.6	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	236.634	236.018	237.906	2.7	0.5	0.8
Housing	278.827	280.005	281.615	4.6	1.0	0.6
Shelter	318.650	319.854	320.795	5.0	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence (1)	333.819	335.004	337.209	5.3	1.0	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences (1) (2)	330.789	331.993	332.914	4.8	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence (1) (2)	330.770	331.974	332.895	4.8	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	303.350	303.548	312.131	4.9	2.9	2.8
Household energy	268.581	269.105	280.018	5.6	4.3	4.1
Energy services (1)	267.472	267.998	279.015	5.7	4.3	4.1
Electricity (1)	297.154	297.144	313.726	4.3	5.6	5.6
Utility (piped) gas service (1)	245.277	247.095	247.433	11.2	0.9	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	113.705	115.082	116.212	0.7	2.2	1.0
Apparel	112.359	112.048	111.876	-1.4	-0.4	-0.2
Transportation	189.529	189.650	190.597	-1.8	0.6	0.5
Private transportation	184.964	185.094	186.098	-1.4	0.6	0.5
Motor fuel	205.366	212.508	215.917	-5.6	5.1	1.6
Gasoline (all types)	200.841	207.870	211.196	-5.6	5.2	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular (3)	200.955	207.978	211.267	-5.8	5.1	1.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade (3) (4)	194.039	199.841	203.617	-5.1	4.9	1.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium (3)	192.970	200.004	203.277	-4.7	5.3	1.6
Medical care	467.393	466.430	466.477	7.7	-0.2	0.0
Recreation (5)	106.315	106.986	106.914	0.7	0.6	-0.1
Education and communication (5)	143.228	141.794	141.982	-3.6	-0.9	0.1
Other goods and services	392.387	394.520	391.495	-0.1	-0.2	-0.8
Commodity and service group
All items	249.700	250.145	251.098	2.2	0.6	0.4
Commodities	172.693	173.569	173.944	-1.0	0.7	0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	132.074	133.205	133.296	-2.0	0.9	0.1
Nondurables less food & beverages	171.592	174.073	173.785	-1.5	1.3	-0.2
Durables	93.346	93.144	93.612	-3.1	0.3	0.5
Services	318.233	318.290	319.761	3.8	0.5	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	240.307	240.804	241.788	1.8	0.6	0.4
All items less shelter	219.575	219.676	220.640	0.4	0.5	0.4
Commodities less food	136.470	137.570	137.709	-1.8	0.9	0.1
Nondurables	211.890	213.347	213.657	-0.5	0.8	0.1
Nondurables less food	177.446	179.804	179.623	-1.1	1.2	-0.1
Services less rent of shelter (2)	326.653	325.020	327.305	2.3	0.2	0.7
Services less medical care services	305.702	305.931	307.281	3.5	0.5	0.4
Energy	230.391	235.020	241.322	-0.9	4.7	2.7
All items less energy	253.052	253.185	253.742	2.4	0.3	0.2
All items less food and energy	253.775	253.898	254.388	2.8	0.2	0.2
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) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.