Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in November 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the November increase was influenced by higher prices for electricity and new and used motor vehicles. (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 1.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent over the year. Food prices rose 7.4 percent. Energy prices decreased 8.9 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.2 percent for the two months ending in November. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent. During the same period, prices for food at home inched down 0.1 percent, influenced by lower prices for cereals and bakery products (-3.5 percent).

Over the year, food prices rose 7.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 9.2 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (18.6 percent), and prices for food away from home rose 5.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.3 percent for the two months ending in November. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (9.5 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 4.9 percent, and prices for gasoline decreased 2.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices decreased 8.9 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-22.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 21.8 percent, and prices for electricity rose 14.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (3.3 percent), recreation (2.8 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-11.3 percent) and household furnishings and operations (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (4.4 percent), education and communication (3.8 percent), and shelter (2.3 percent).

The January 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on February 10, 2021.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area includes Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California.

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