Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), decreased 0.2 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July decrease was influenced by lower prices for gasoline. (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 7.7 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 9.3 percent.  Energy prices advanced 28.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 5.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.5 percent for the month of July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent, led by cereals and bakery products (3.1 percent) and other food at home (2.4 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 0.3 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 9.3 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 11.6 percent since a year ago. Increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 5.1 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs to 16.5 percent for other food at home. Prices for food away from home rose 6.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 5.8 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-6.2 percent). Prices for natural gas service moved down 12.2 percent, and prices for electricity decreased 1.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 28.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (37.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 19.5 percent, and prices for electricity rose 10.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in July. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (1.0 percent), education and communication (0.8 percent), and shelter (0.3 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-4.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (13.3 percent), medical care (8.9 percent), and shelter (4.3 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1	0.2	0.9	1.1	7.5
February	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4	0.4	1.0	0.3	7.4
March	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	0.7	1.9	0.5	2.2	1.5	8.5
April	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7	1.1	3.6	0.5	7.9
May	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9	0.6	3.9	0.8	8.0
June	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4	0.6	4.0	1.1	8.6
July	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3	0.6	1.9	0.6	3.9	-0.2	7.7
August	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0	0.1	2.0	0.2	4.0
September	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0	-0.3	1.2	0.3	4.6
October	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2	0.2	0.7	0.9	5.4
November	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2	0.1	1.0	0.6	6.0
December	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0	-0.2	1.5	0.4	6.6

The August 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on September 13, 2022.

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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Jul. 2021	May 2022	Jun. 2022
Expenditure category
All items		310.649	314.072	313.415	7.7	0.9	-0.2
All items (1967=100)		917.795	927.908	925.967	-	-	-
Food and beverages		311.948	314.494	316.016	9.0	1.3	0.5
Food		312.963	315.862	317.530	9.3	1.5	0.5
Food at home		303.614	307.614	309.766	11.6	2.0	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		312.077	315.506	325.385	14.6	4.3	3.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		338.675	340.484	337.476	5.1	-0.4	-0.9
Dairy and related products		290.887	300.685	302.333	14.0	3.9	0.5
Fruits and vegetables		415.915	421.056	420.071	12.8	1.0	-0.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		293.392	297.600	295.495	8.4	0.7	-0.7
Other food at home		234.486	237.795	243.595	16.5	3.9	2.4
Food away from home		316.880	318.245	319.227	6.3	0.7	0.3
Alcoholic beverages		277.827	275.268	274.646	5.3	-1.1	-0.2
Housing		347.506	349.329	349.523	5.3	0.6	0.1
Shelter		395.023	396.161	397.446	4.3	0.6	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		417.907	419.626	420.576	4.3	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		409.021	410.336	412.096	4.3	0.8	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		408.998	410.312	412.073	4.3	0.8	0.4
Fuels and utilities		441.064	452.268	438.677	11.5	-0.5	-3.0
Household energy		399.349	413.181	392.117	13.6	-1.8	-5.1
Energy services(2)		397.047	410.501	390.049	13.5	-1.8	-5.0
Electricity(2)		437.937	429.503	424.685	10.4	-3.0	-1.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		361.105	415.134	364.677	19.5	1.0	-12.2
Household furnishings and operations		130.521	131.664	132.307	9.5	1.4	0.5
Apparel		115.215	117.065	112.323	4.2	-2.5	-4.1
Transportation		275.999	284.834	279.034	16.8	1.1	-2.0
Private transportation		275.082	285.890	281.262	17.7	2.2	-1.6
New and used motor vehicles(4)		110.365	115.058	116.193	13.3	5.3	1.0
New vehicles(1)		193.326	194.139	194.191	8.2	0.4	0.0
Used cars and trucks(1)		394.741	404.909	406.991	7.4	3.1	0.5
Motor fuel		452.281	480.589	451.041	38.0	-0.3	-6.1
Gasoline (all types)		441.335	469.166	439.859	37.7	-0.3	-6.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		443.440	471.683	441.781	38.0	-0.4	-6.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		419.640	445.477	418.631	36.7	-0.2	-6.0
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		417.782	443.040	417.067	36.2	-0.2	-5.9
Medical care		547.781	554.625	557.440	8.9	1.8	0.5
Recreation(6)		118.570	118.720	119.450	4.1	0.7	0.6
Education and communication(6)		152.518	154.579	155.764	5.0	2.1	0.8
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		2,083.211	2,163.845	2,170.105	11.9	4.2	0.3
Other goods and services		482.482	484.584	488.129	5.0	1.2	0.7
Commodity and service group
All items		310.649	314.072	313.415	7.7	0.9	-0.2
Commodities		218.383	221.928	220.404	11.7	0.9	-0.7
Commodities less food & beverages		169.147	172.891	170.243	13.8	0.6	-1.5
Nondurables less food & beverages		239.601	247.147	238.862	18.0	-0.3	-3.4
Durables		104.690	105.694	106.710	8.6	1.9	1.0
Services		391.649	394.879	395.063	5.7	0.9	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		300.221	303.497	302.707	7.7	0.8	-0.3
All items less shelter		273.374	277.836	276.302	10.1	1.1	-0.6
Commodities less food		174.217	177.844	175.215	13.4	0.6	-1.5
Nondurables		277.306	282.410	278.960	12.7	0.6	-1.2
Nondurables less food		245.040	252.050	244.139	16.9	-0.4	-3.1
Services less rent of shelter(3)		397.438	403.984	402.499	7.9	1.3	-0.4
Services less medical care services		377.026	379.967	379.974	5.4	0.8	0.0
Energy		433.563	456.205	429.904	28.1	-0.8	-5.8
All items less energy		305.278	307.564	308.450	6.3	1.0	0.3
All items less food and energy		304.024	306.206	306.958	5.7	1.0	0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.