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News Release Information

20-1401-SAN
Tuesday, July 14, 2020

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area – June 2020

Area prices were up 1.5 percent over the past two months, up 2.0 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.5 percent for the two months ending in June 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for all items less food and energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 2.0 percent. The The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent over the year. Food prices rose 4.1 percent. Energy prices dropped 14.0 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.5 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home increased 0.7 percent, and prices for food at home advanced 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 4.1 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.4 percent since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 3.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 6.2 percent for the two months ending in June. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (14.1 percent). Prices for gasoline rose 0.6 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 8.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices dropped 14.0 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-24.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service decreased 5.8 percent, and prices paid for electricity decreased 4.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (2.0 percent) and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.8 percent) and other goods and services (-1.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.4 percent) and other goods and services (2.1 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-9.3 percent).

The August 2020 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on September 11, 2020.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on June 2020 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in June was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Apr.
2020
May
2020
Jun.
2020
Jun.
2019
Apr.
2020
May
2020

Expenditure category

All items

143.734-145.8492.01.5-

Food and beverages

154.298-154.8624.00.4-

Food

155.382-156.1454.10.5-

Food at home

152.830153.166153.2595.40.30.1

Cereals and bakery products

194.110-192.9013.7-0.6-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

191.344-204.75413.57.0-

Dairy and related products

122.517-124.82419.21.9-

Fruits and vegetables

133.007-130.9071.1-1.6-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

116.769-110.3661.9-5.5-

Other food at home

147.569-146.5250.8-0.7-

Food away from home

161.139-162.2843.00.7-

Alcoholic beverages

145.653-143.5292.8-1.5-

Housing

151.552-154.0774.31.7-

Shelter

160.080161.137161.1215.40.70.0

Rent of primary residence

171.397172.388172.0937.10.4-0.2

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

158.604159.306159.3235.60.50.0

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

158.604159.306159.3235.60.50.0

Fuels and utilities

153.727-168.298-1.89.5-

Household energy

150.961175.700168.921-4.311.9-3.9

Energy services

150.714175.483168.685-4.411.9-3.9

Electricity

159.960190.685182.590-4.714.1-4.2

Utility (piped) gas service

103.61193.85394.488-5.8-8.80.7

Household furnishings and operations

99.034-101.0640.82.0-

Apparel

122.352-120.909-9.3-1.2-

Transportation

119.276-122.679-7.22.9-

Private transportation

121.806-126.042-5.83.5-

New and used motor vehicles

------

New vehicles

------

Used cars and trucks

85.418-83.856-2.9-1.8-

Motor fuel

193.452178.814194.120-24.30.38.6

Gasoline (all types)

193.309178.740194.404-24.40.68.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

192.376177.496193.389-25.10.59.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

210.479196.353206.867-23.3-1.75.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

200.530187.390203.051-20.41.38.4

Motor vehicle insurance

124.569-166.092-1.733.3-

Medical care

------

Recreation

116.832-116.6180.6-0.2-

Education and communication

116.867-117.0520.20.2-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

------

Other goods and services

151.567-149.5812.1-1.3-

Commodity and service group

All items

143.734-145.8492.01.5-

Commodities

122.985-123.599-0.60.5-

Commodities less food & beverages

107.528-108.149-3.20.6-

Nondurables less food & beverages

141.058-140.969-6.1-0.1-

Durables

78.536-79.5380.01.3-

Services

158.083-161.3103.52.0-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

140.543-142.3021.11.3-

All items less shelter

135.351-137.9340.11.9-

Commodities less food

108.865-109.414-3.00.5-

Nondurables

148.057-148.301-1.00.2-

Nondurables less food

141.162-140.941-5.6-0.2-

Services less rent of shelter

155.096-160.8481.13.7-

Services less medical care services

154.527-157.3763.01.8-

Energy

172.760180.564183.424-14.06.21.6

All items less energy

141.929-143.6033.31.2-

All items less food and energy

139.832-141.6333.21.3-

Footnotes
(1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2020