Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The December increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter, new and used motor vehicles, and household furnishings and operations. (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 advanced 7.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 6.4 percent. Energy prices jumped 31.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home crept up 0.2 percent. All sub-categories advanced 1.0 percent or less, except for prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs which declined 0.9 percent. Prices for food away from home advanced 0.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 6.4 percent. Food at home advanced 7.1 percent. Prices ranged from no change for dairy and related products to a 14.3 percent increase for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Since a year ago, and prices for food away from home increased 5.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index inched down 0.1 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-0.3 percent). Prices for natural gas service declined 0.7 percent, but prices for electricity increased for the same period (0.5 percent).

Energy prices jumped 31.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (47.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service advanced 20.0 percent, and prices for electricity rose 9.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in December. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (1.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.8 percent), and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-1.3 percent) and recreation (-0.6 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (19.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (7.0 percent), and shelter (4.5 percent).

Table A. West region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	2.5	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9	0.2	1.4
February	0.6	3.0	0.5	3.1	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1	0.5	1.6
March	0.3	3.1	0.4	3.2	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5	0.7	2.4
April	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.2	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3	1.0	3.9
May	0.2	2.6	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8	0.8	4.7
June	0.0	2.5	0.2	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2	0.9	5.1
July	0.1	2.5	0.1	3.6	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7	0.6	5.2
August	0.2	2.7	0.2	3.6	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9	0.2	5.0
September	0.5	2.9	0.3	3.4	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6	0.2	5.3
October	0.3	2.9	0.4	3.5	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2	0.8	6.0
November	0.0	3.1	-0.2	3.3	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4	0.5	6.5
December	0.1	3.1	-0.2	3.1	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5	0.4	7.1

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on February 10, 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 West Region covered in this release is comprised of the following thirteen states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

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

West (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Dec. 2020	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items		293.397	294.986	296.102	7.1	0.9	0.4
All items (December 1977=100)		474.260	476.829	478.633
Food and beverages		295.381	297.051	298.185	6.1	0.9	0.4
Food		296.297	298.117	299.237	6.4	1.0	0.4
Food at home		279.212	281.412	282.075	7.1	1.0	0.2
Cereals and bakery products		280.324	281.699	281.894	4.6	0.6	0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		317.661	322.231	319.364	14.3	0.5	-0.9
Dairy and related products		249.035	246.994	249.507	0.0	0.2	1.0
Fruits and vegetables		357.199	360.627	363.171	5.0	1.7	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		198.908	199.121	199.135	5.5	0.1	0.0
Other food at home		231.812	234.472	236.401	7.4	2.0	0.8
Food away from home		318.338	319.627	321.369	5.5	1.0	0.5
Alcoholic beverages		280.104	279.885	281.170	3.1	0.4	0.5
Housing		321.344	322.805	324.675	5.2	1.0	0.6
Shelter		368.754	370.626	372.354	4.5	1.0	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)		390.734	392.999	394.665	3.4	1.0	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		388.374	390.390	392.230	4.2	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		388.255	390.255	392.075	4.1	1.0	0.5
Fuels and utilities		349.302	348.342	348.975	9.5	-0.1	0.2
Household energy		299.642	299.076	299.994	12.0	0.1	0.3
Energy services(1)		301.509	300.657	301.352	11.7	-0.1	0.2
Electricity(1)		330.360	327.921	329.569	9.4	-0.2	0.5
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		252.691	255.836	254.144	20.0	0.6	-0.7
Household furnishings and operations		144.246	145.239	147.843	7.0	2.5	1.8
Apparel		120.233	118.244	116.739	6.7	-2.9	-1.3
Transportation		249.555	253.907	256.142	21.0	2.6	0.9
Private transportation		249.813	253.876	256.169	22.3	2.5	0.9
New and used motor vehicles(3)		120.070	121.912	124.076	19.6	3.3	1.8
New vehicles		163.336	164.674	166.822	10.1	2.1	1.3
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		113.465	114.385	115.904	10.2	2.1	1.3
New cars(4)		160.574		165.345	10.4	3.0
Used cars and trucks		186.515	191.477	198.068	36.6	6.2	3.4
Motor fuel		323.637	332.424	331.282	47.7	2.4	-0.3
Gasoline (all types)		322.622	331.224	330.078	47.7	2.3	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		319.375	328.015	326.757	48.8	2.3	-0.4
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		307.761	315.751	315.000	44.4	2.4	-0.2
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		315.063	323.016	322.329	43.4	2.3	-0.2
Motor vehicle insurance(6)		818.567	825.555	836.233	5.0	2.2	1.3
Medical Care		546.468	549.444	548.403	2.0	0.4	-0.2
Medical care commodities		417.921	422.701	424.650	0.9	1.6	0.5
Medical care services		586.240	588.643	586.660	2.3	0.1	-0.3
Professional services		379.051	379.950	379.608	4.1	0.1	-0.1
Recreation(3)		122.423	122.099	121.371	4.1	-0.9	-0.6
Education and communication(3)		142.045	141.856	141.473	0.1	-0.4	-0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,565.035	1,565.734	1,561.607	3.1	-0.2	-0.3
Other goods and services		483.228	483.489	486.793	5.5	0.7	0.7
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		293.397	294.986	296.102	7.1	0.9	0.4
Commodities		209.871	211.588	212.825	11.7	1.4	0.6
Commodities less food & beverages		167.274	168.924	170.139	15.8	1.7	0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages		215.434	216.992	216.638	16.7	0.6	-0.2
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		282.201	286.188	286.615	19.9	1.6	0.1
Durables		122.463	124.016	126.074	14.8	2.9	1.7
Services		369.925	371.298	372.228	4.3	0.6	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)		392.847	394.857	396.705	4.6	1.0	0.5
Transportation services		317.998	321.457	320.436	5.3	0.8	-0.3
Other services		379.554	378.727	378.398	2.6	-0.3	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		281.786	283.311	284.514	7.5	1.0	0.4
All items less food		293.075	294.627	295.743	7.2	0.9	0.4
All items less shelter		263.812	265.290	266.166	8.5	0.9	0.3
Commodities less food		171.614	173.224	174.451	15.2	1.7	0.7
Nondurables		255.624	257.246	257.616	10.5	0.8	0.1
Nondurables less food		220.430	221.877	221.630	15.5	0.5	-0.1
Nondurables less food and apparel		281.599	285.135	285.653	17.9	1.4	0.2
Services less rent of shelter(2)		382.183	382.901	382.770	4.0	0.2	0.0
Services less medical care services		354.816	356.118	357.241	4.6	0.7	0.3
Energy		318.786	323.732	323.449	31.2	1.5	-0.1
All items less energy		294.146	295.520	296.741	5.6	0.9	0.4
All items less food and energy		294.588	295.887	297.129	5.5	0.9	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities		155.102	155.971	157.409	10.1	1.5	0.9
Energy commodities		329.472	338.473	337.504	47.3	2.4	-0.3
Services less energy services		375.333	376.837	377.785	4.0	0.7	0.3
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Indexes on a December 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. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available Regions defined as the four Census regions. West includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.