Prices in the West Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 0.5 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The February increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter. (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 6.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 9.2 percent over the year, and energy prices rose 6.9 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.7 percent for the month of February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.9 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 9.2 percent. Prices for food at home rose 9.5 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 5.5 percent for fruits and vegetables to 14.5 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home advanced 8.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 0.5 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-21.1 percent). Prices for gasoline increased 5.1 percent, while prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices rose 6.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for electricity (9.8 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 26.1 percent, and prices for gasoline advanced 1.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.6 percent in February. Higher prices for apparel (2.9 percent), household furnishings and operations (1.5 percent), and shelter (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.3 percent) and medical care (-1.0 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (7.9 percent), recreation (5.9 percent), and household furnishings and operations (4.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-13.0 percent).

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

Month	2019		2020		2021		2022		2023
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.2	2.7	0.3	2.9	0.2	1.4	0.9	7.7	0.9	6.3
February	0.2	2.4	0.4	3.1	0.5	1.6	0.8	8.1	0.5	6.0
March	0.4	2.4	-0.2	2.5	0.7	2.4	1.3	8.7
April	0.8	2.9	-0.4	1.3	1.0	3.9	0.7	8.3
May	0.5	2.9	0.1	0.8	0.8	4.7	0.8	8.3
June	0.0	2.7	0.4	1.2	0.9	5.1	1.2	8.8
July	0.0	2.7	0.5	1.7	0.6	5.2	0.1	8.3
August	0.1	2.6	0.3	1.9	0.2	5.0	0.0	8.1
September	0.3	2.6	0.0	1.6	0.2	5.3	0.3	8.3
October	0.5	2.8	0.2	1.2	0.8	6.0	0.7	8.1
November	-0.1	2.8	0.0	1.4	0.5	6.5	-0.4	7.1
December	-0.2	2.8	-0.1	1.5	0.4	7.1	-0.4	6.2

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the West Region is scheduled to be released on April 12, 2023.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Feb. 2023	Feb. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023
Expenditure category
All Items		314.599	317.477	319.130	6.0	1.4	0.5
All items (December 1977=100)		508.532	513.185	515.856	-	-	-
Food and beverages		326.660	329.284	331.238	8.9	1.4	0.6
Food		328.729	331.457	333.661	9.2	1.5	0.7
Food at home		312.237	314.531	316.268	9.5	1.3	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		323.610	326.905	331.262	14.5	2.4	1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		340.506	341.966	341.195	6.8	0.2	-0.2
Dairy and related products		287.438	288.707	290.008	11.7	0.9	0.5
Fruits and vegetables		392.165	394.782	396.585	5.5	1.1	0.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		218.715	222.159	223.518	10.0	2.2	0.6
Other food at home		266.944	268.668	270.958	11.3	1.5	0.9
Food away from home		348.953	352.467	355.544	8.9	1.9	0.9
Alcoholic beverages		294.554	295.732	294.269	3.2	-0.1	-0.5
Housing		348.889	353.857	355.153	7.9	1.8	0.4
Shelter		400.578	403.199	406.180	7.9	1.4	0.7
Rent of primary residence(1)		425.210	428.560	431.790	8.3	1.5	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)		422.340	424.802	427.127	7.9	1.1	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		422.125	424.580	426.893	7.9	1.1	0.5
Fuels and utilities		382.539	417.117	399.576	10.9	4.5	-4.2
Household energy		334.910	375.743	351.683	13.6	5.0	-6.4
Energy services(1)		336.667	378.297	353.797	13.8	5.1	-6.5
Electricity(1)		360.045	374.564	374.628	9.8	4.1	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(1)		302.498	414.711	327.209	26.1	8.2	-21.1
Household furnishings and operations		154.793	156.463	158.779	4.7	2.6	1.5
Apparel		121.768	123.886	127.478	2.9	4.7	2.9
Transportation		265.654	265.223	268.311	2.4	1.0	1.2
Private transportation		263.918	263.372	265.621	1.5	0.6	0.9
New and used motor vehicles(3)		124.105	124.288	123.902	-2.4	-0.2	-0.3
New vehicles		175.047	175.967	176.331	4.0	0.7	0.2
New cars and trucks(3)(4)		-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(4)		174.674	175.380	176.063	5.4	0.8	0.4
Used cars and trucks		181.812	178.847	176.567	-13.0	-2.9	-1.3
Motor fuel		335.719	328.019	344.103	2.0	2.5	4.9
Gasoline (all types)		331.920	324.521	341.017	1.5	2.7	5.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		327.980	320.754	337.356	1.4	2.9	5.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		318.128	310.165	325.409	1.6	2.3	4.9
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		326.587	319.036	334.111	2.0	2.3	4.7
Medical Care		574.202	576.065	570.411	1.6	-0.7	-1.0
Medical care commodities		439.511	444.290	445.564	2.7	1.4	0.3
Medical care services		615.829	616.839	609.124	1.4	-1.1	-1.3
Professional services		398.645	399.932	396.720	2.6	-0.5	-0.8
Recreation(3)		126.288	127.880	129.436	5.9	2.5	1.2
Education and communication(3)		143.636	143.907	143.669	1.3	0.0	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)		1,628.954	1,630.213	1,631.640	4.4	0.2	0.1
Other goods and services		508.085	512.705	515.768	5.1	1.5	0.6
Commodity and Service Group
All Items		314.599	317.477	319.130	6.0	1.4	0.5
Commodities		222.785	223.799	225.645	3.6	1.3	0.8
Commodities less food & beverages		172.915	173.354	175.017	0.4	1.2	1.0
Nondurables less food & beverages		224.583	225.097	230.487	3.9	2.6	2.4
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel		296.657	296.049	302.702	4.1	2.0	2.2
Durables		125.704	126.051	125.666	-2.8	0.0	-0.3
Services		399.007	403.783	405.137	7.4	1.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(2)		427.005	429.822	433.033	8.0	1.4	0.7
Transportation services		360.625	364.790	369.034	12.0	2.3	1.2
Other services		394.157	397.187	399.384	5.3	1.3	0.6
Special aggregate indexes:
All items less medical care		302.639	305.550	307.503	6.3	1.6	0.6
All items less food		312.533	315.432	317.006	5.4	1.4	0.5
All items less shelter		280.773	283.773	284.886	4.9	1.5	0.4
Commodities less food		177.495	177.954	179.572	0.5	1.2	0.9
Nondurables		275.595	277.099	280.973	6.7	2.0	1.4
Nondurables less food		229.931	230.485	235.533	3.8	2.4	2.2
Nondurables less food and apparel		295.979	295.533	301.446	4.0	1.8	2.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)		407.984	416.078	414.997	6.6	1.7	-0.3
Services less medical care services		383.799	388.825	390.792	8.1	1.8	0.5
Energy		341.756	355.921	354.104	6.9	3.6	-0.5
All items less energy		315.402	317.614	319.491	5.9	1.3	0.6
All items less food and energy		314.001	316.137	317.968	5.3	1.3	0.6
Commodities less food and energy commodities		160.237	161.291	161.770	0.2	1.0	0.3
Energy commodities		342.515	335.030	351.001	2.1	2.5	4.8
Services less energy services		404.182	406.965	409.738	7.1	1.4	0.7
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.