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News Release Information

21-665-SAN
Tuesday, April 13, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, San Diego Area – March 2021

Area prices were up 2.4 percent over the past two months, up 4.1 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Diego area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 2.4 percent for the two months ending in March 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Christopher J. Rosenlund noted that the March increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline, recreation, and shelter. (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 4.1 percent. Food prices advanced 4.8 percent. Energy prices jumped 15.8 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.9 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 1.1 percent with higher prices for other food at home (3.7 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (1.9 percent) partially offset by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-1.6 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-1.4 percent).  Prices for food away from home advanced 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 4.8 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 5.6 percent from a year ago. Prices for food at home advanced 4.0 percent since a year ago with widespread price increases except for decreases in dairy and related products (-2.7 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-0.4 percent).

Energy

The energy index jumped 16.3 percent for the two months ending in March. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (17.8 percent). Prices for electricity jumped 18.6 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 15.8 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (14.2 percent). Prices paid for electricity jumped 18.9 percent, and prices for natural gas service jumped 16.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (6.4 percent) and shelter (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.0 percent) and other goods and services (-0.9 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 3.2 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (6.5 percent), education and communication (5.1 percent), medical care (3.8 percent), and shelter (0.9 percent).

The May 2021 Consumer Price Index for the San Diego area is scheduled to be released on June 10, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Impact on March 2021 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 March 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 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 San Diego-Carlsbad, CA metropolitan area includes San Diego County in 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

San Diego-Carlsbad (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Jan.
2021
Feb.
2021
Mar.
2021
Mar.
2020
Jan.
2021
Feb.
2021

Expenditure category

All items

307.688-315.0354.12.4-

All items (1967=100)

1,040.388-1,065.230---

Food and beverages

275.031-278.9965.21.4-

Food

273.381-275.9194.80.9-

Food at home

239.881240.900242.4574.01.10.6

Cereals and bakery products

285.453-281.4599.7-1.4-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

257.841-262.7329.11.9-

Dairy and related products

188.469-189.226-2.70.4-

Fruits and vegetables

267.308-263.057-0.4-1.6-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

269.416-272.3672.71.1-

Other food at home

215.949-223.9872.73.7-

Food away from home

318.026-320.4715.60.8-

Alcoholic beverages

281.860-299.6899.46.3-

Housing

364.257-369.9431.81.6-

Shelter

413.302414.082417.7930.91.10.9

Rent of primary residence(2)

411.332412.685414.5591.20.80.5

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

439.115439.519444.0891.71.11.0

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

439.115439.519444.0891.71.11.0

Fuels and utilities

356.133-386.88711.88.6-

Household energy

324.302359.943369.38818.413.92.6

Energy services

320.655356.411364.88518.313.82.4

Electricity

302.948348.932359.35118.918.63.0

Utility (piped) gas service

271.769267.365267.68116.1-1.50.1

Household furnishings and operations

195.819-196.7132.90.5-

Apparel

165.267-163.6213.6-1.0-

Transportation

231.390-248.31111.07.3-

Private transportation

225.362-237.5496.95.4-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

112.328-114.0696.51.5-

New vehicles(1)

238.647-244.1835.72.3-

Used cars and trucks(1)

247.428-254.5398.72.9-

Motor fuel

263.150280.079309.96914.217.810.7

Gasoline (all types)

262.919279.798309.73114.217.810.7

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

270.544288.435320.07913.818.311.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

231.881245.761272.00416.817.310.7

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

275.582291.148318.91215.715.79.5

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

567.678-567.6783.20.0-

Medical care

520.724-527.1853.81.2-

Recreation(3)

154.144-163.9341.56.4-

Education and communication(3)

135.598-135.7845.10.1-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,554.342-1,554.3421.00.0-

Other goods and services

444.874-440.9036.3-0.9-

Commodity and service group

All items

307.688-315.0354.12.4-

Commodities

209.555-214.4745.22.3-

Commodities less food & beverages

174.838-180.3275.13.1-

Nondurables less food & beverages

204.772-213.6795.54.3-

Durables

142.970-145.1704.61.5-

Services

394.193-403.6953.52.4-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

297.653-305.0384.12.5-

All items less shelter

265.798-274.0866.03.1-

Commodities less food

179.723-185.8055.53.4-

Nondurables

241.614-247.8695.32.6-

Nondurables less food

212.256-222.0236.04.6-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

391.644-407.6227.14.1-

Services less medical care services

380.106-389.8373.52.6-

Energy

280.685303.681326.40815.816.37.5

All items less energy

312.072-317.2333.51.7-

All items less food and energy

320.303-326.0433.21.8-

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a November 1977=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a November 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.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021