Prices in the Honolulu area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.6 percent for the two months ending in March 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the March increase was influenced by higher prices for 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 advanced 3.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 4.4 percent. Energy prices increased 5.4 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of electricity. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Urban Hawaii, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.8	2.0
May 2020	1.3	1.4
Jul 2020	1.3	1.4
Sep 2020	1.9	1.9
Nov 2020	1.6	1.8
Jan 2021	1.4	1.4
Mar 2021	1.8	0.9
May 2021	3.8	3.3
Jul 2021	4.6	3.8
Sep 2021	5.0	4.1
Nov 2021	5.4	3.4
Jan 2022	6.0	3.9
Mar 2022	7.5	5.3
May 2022	7.0	4.3
Jul 2022	6.8	3.9
Sep 2022	6.6	4.1
Nov 2022	5.8	3.6
Jan 2023	5.2	3.7
Mar 2023	3.3	3.0

Food prices declined 0.2 percent for the two months ending in March. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 1.0 percent, led by lower prices for fruits and vegetables (-5.7 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 1.0 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 4.4 percent. Prices for food at home increased 1.4 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 9.2 percent.

The energy index declined 3.5 percent for the two months ending in March. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for electricity (-4.1 percent). Prices for gasoline decreased 3.2 percent, but prices for natural gas service increased 5.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 5.4 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (15.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service decreased 3.6 percent, and prices for gasoline moved down 2.2 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (4.8 percent), household furnishings and operations (2.5 percent), and shelter (1.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for education and communication (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (15.4 percent), new vehicles (10.0 percent), and shelter (0.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-9.4 percent).

The May 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Honolulu area is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2023.

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 Urban Hawaii area covered in this release consists of Honolulu in the State of Hawaii.

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

Urban Hawaii (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Mar. 2023	Mar. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023
Expenditure category
All items		320.790	-	322.608	3.3	0.6	-
All items (1967=100)		883.125	-	888.131	-	-	-
Food and beverages		347.036	-	346.278	4.0	-0.2	-
Food		350.287	-	349.638	4.4	-0.2	-
Food at home		342.366	344.899	338.905	1.4	-1.0	-1.7
Cereals and bakery products		388.295	-	402.879	9.9	3.8	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		313.950	-	317.858	-4.3	1.2	-
Dairy and related products		287.265	-	288.914	14.9	0.6	-
Fruits and vegetables		418.492	-	394.467	-1.7	-5.7	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		427.838	-	415.462	-5.5	-2.9	-
Other food at home		335.001	-	330.310	4.3	-1.4	-
Food away from home		351.450	-	354.915	9.2	1.0	-
Alcoholic beverages		293.234	-	290.467	-3.7	-0.9	-
Housing		339.646	-	342.499	1.9	0.8	-
Shelter		363.145	366.276	367.529	0.7	1.2	0.3
Rent of primary residence(2)		360.103	363.383	363.669	2.0	1.0	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)		375.650	378.609	379.841	3.3	1.1	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)		375.650	378.609	379.841	3.3	1.1	0.3
Fuels and utilities		476.890	-	464.401	10.4	-2.6	-
Household energy		414.020	408.947	398.417	14.4	-3.8	-2.6
Energy services		405.907	401.688	391.140	14.8	-3.6	-2.6
Electricity		406.137	399.978	389.437	15.7	-4.1	-2.6
Utility (piped) gas service		333.574	360.926	352.066	-3.6	5.5	-2.5
Household furnishings and operations		162.735	-	166.769	4.8	2.5	-
Apparel		124.045	-	129.995	15.4	4.8	-
Transportation		270.999	-	271.554	2.7	0.2	-
Private transportation		282.303	-	280.654	2.3	-0.6	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)		127.032	-	128.288	5.6	1.0	-
New vehicles(1)		192.051	-	192.359	10.0	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		319.382	-	319.752	-9.4	0.1	-
Motor fuel		391.154	382.697	378.924	-2.3	-3.1	-1.0
Gasoline (all types)		401.770	392.925	389.103	-2.2	-3.2	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		417.307	407.783	403.850	-2.4	-3.2	-1.0
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		333.908	326.914	323.449	-1.7	-3.1	-1.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		375.985	368.903	365.221	-1.7	-2.9	-1.0
Medical care		-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation(3)		147.294	-	149.570	5.8	1.5	-
Education and communication(3)		156.818	-	155.703	3.0	-0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		1,922.709	-	1,922.709	2.4	0.0	-
Other goods and services		590.139	-	593.904	10.2	0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All items		320.790	-	322.608	3.3	0.6	-
Commodities		251.312	-	251.598	5.6	0.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages		192.506	-	193.229	6.8	0.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		252.370	-	253.110	8.0	0.3	-
Durables		131.842	-	132.469	5.4	0.5	-
Services		382.666	-	385.696	2.3	0.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		310.869	-	312.637	2.9	0.6	-
All items less shelter		304.869	-	305.211	5.3	0.1	-
Commodities less food		196.654	-	197.307	6.4	0.3	-
Nondurables		301.694	-	301.670	5.6	0.0	-
Nondurables less food		255.044	-	255.608	7.1	0.2	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)		408.197	-	408.613	4.8	0.1	-
Services less medical care services		373.023	-	375.817	2.2	0.7	-
Energy		400.958	394.330	387.023	5.4	-3.5	-1.9
All items less energy		317.678	-	320.588	3.2	0.9	-
All items less food and energy		313.797	-	317.292	3.0	1.1	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (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.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.