Prices in the San Diego area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), crept up 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the September increase was influenced by higher prices for apparel, shelter, and education and communication. (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 6.5 percent. Food prices increased 7.8 percent. Energy prices jumped 31.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.1 percent for the two months ending in September. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home advanced 1.6 percent, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (3.3 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (2.6 percent). Prices for food away from home decreased 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 7.8 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 5.7 percent. Increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 5.5 to 7.5 percent, with the exception of a 1.2 percent decline in dairy and related products. Prices for food away from home jumped 10.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.8 percent for the two months ending in September. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (1.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service advanced 0.9 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 31.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (39.4 percent). Prices paid for electricity jumped 20.2 percent, and prices for natural gas service jumped 14.1 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (5.9 percent), education and communication (2.0 percent), shelter (0.3 percent), and medical care (0.1 percent) were contrasted by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.4 percent), recreation (-0.8 percent), and alcoholic beverages (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (16.4 percent), apparel (11.1 percent), and shelter (3.8 percent).

The November 2021 Consumer Price Index for the San Diego area is scheduled to be released on December 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 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	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Sep. 2021	Sep. 2020	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021
Expenditure category
All items		323.906	-	324.138	6.5	0.1	-
All items (1967=100)		1,095.225	-	1,096.011	-	-	-
Food and beverages		291.027	-	291.182	7.6	0.1	-
Food		290.085	-	290.442	7.8	0.1	-
Food at home		247.101	244.732	251.050	5.7	1.6	2.6
Cereals and bakery products		290.478	-	291.545	5.5	0.4	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		261.634	-	268.414	5.8	2.6	-
Dairy and related products		190.072	-	188.341	-1.2	-0.9	-
Fruits and vegetables		269.440	-	278.317	7.2	3.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		282.564	-	282.869	7.5	0.1	-
Other food at home		230.459	-	234.629	6.3	1.8	-
Food away from home		348.278	-	343.404	10.1	-1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		290.365	-	288.534	5.9	-0.6	-
Housing		378.021	-	379.710	4.4	0.4	-
Shelter		428.567	430.945	430.066	3.8	0.3	-0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)		419.876	422.204	424.496	3.2	1.1	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		451.014	454.474	455.192	3.3	0.9	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		451.014	454.474	455.192	3.3	0.9	0.2
Fuels and utilities		394.097	-	395.294	12.9	0.3	-
Household energy		380.052	380.953	381.379	19.1	0.3	0.1
Energy services		375.765	376.588	376.516	18.8	0.2	0.0
Electricity		362.335	362.335	362.335	20.2	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		297.654	300.560	300.308	14.1	0.9	-0.1
Household furnishings and operations		195.256	-	197.913	3.9	1.4	-
Apparel		162.687	-	172.313	11.1	5.9	-
Transportation		266.031	-	259.830	18.8	-2.3	-
Private transportation		258.498	-	258.749	19.4	0.1	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		128.707	-	126.409	16.4	-1.8	-
New vehicles(1)		244.913	-	247.450	5.0	1.0	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		329.038	-	311.298	23.4	-5.4	-
Motor fuel		341.468	345.232	345.256	39.4	1.1	0.0
Gasoline (all types)		341.391	345.055	345.140	39.4	1.1	0.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		353.524	357.342	357.397	40.4	1.1	0.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		297.839	300.932	300.967	35.9	1.1	0.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		348.766	352.432	352.651	35.4	1.1	0.1
Motor vehicle insurance(1)		572.272	-	572.272	8.8	0.0	-
Medical care		521.101	-	521.611	0.1	0.1	-
Recreation(3)		169.038	-	167.740	2.4	-0.8	-
Education and communication(3)		135.881	-	138.560	2.7	2.0	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,555.995	-	1,606.250	3.1	3.2	-
Other goods and services		442.341	-	441.713	4.3	-0.1	-
Commodity and service group
All items		323.906	-	324.138	6.5	0.1	-
Commodities		225.414	-	226.174	10.2	0.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages		190.748	-	191.849	12.4	0.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		222.422	-	226.202	15.5	1.7	-
Durables		156.888	-	155.490	8.5	-0.9	-
Services		409.856	-	409.514	4.4	-0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		314.601	-	314.820	7.0	0.1	-
All items less shelter		282.162	-	281.934	8.0	-0.1	-
Commodities less food		195.239	-	196.194	11.9	0.5	-
Nondurables		258.338	-	260.179	10.7	0.7	-
Nondurables less food		229.036	-	232.279	14.3	1.4	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		408.473	-	405.897	5.3	-0.6	-
Services less medical care services		396.910	-	396.418	5.0	-0.1	-
Energy		350.596	353.361	353.519	31.3	0.8	0.0
All items less energy		325.285	-	325.362	5.2	0.0	-
All items less food and energy		332.716	-	332.730	4.7	0.0	-
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.