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Index and average price data for electricity in Miami for January through November 2022 were incorrectly published in the database, as well in Los Angeles and Riverside for May through November 2022. The error also includes related aggregate data within these and several related areas. A list of affected series and the corrected indexes and average price values will be provided when they are available. 

News Release Information

23-304-SAN
Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Consumer Price Index, San Diego Area — January 2023

Area prices were up 1.8 percent over the past two months, up 6.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Diego area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.8 percent for the two months ending in January 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the January increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and natural gas service. (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 6.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 3.6 percent. Energy prices increased 12.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of natural gas service. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.5 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 2.1 percent for the two months ending in January. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 1.0 percent, led by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (5.4 percent). Prices for food away from home rose 3.7 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.6 percent. Prices for food at home rose 9.0 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home fell 2.3 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 4.7 percent for the two months ending in January. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas service (146.1 percent). Prices for electricity rose 15.9 percent, but prices for gasoline decreased 14.7 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 12.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for natural gas service (116.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 13.4 percent, but prices for gasoline declined 1.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (2.6 percent), shelter (2.3 percent), and recreation (1.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-3.7 percent) and education and communication (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 6.5 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (9.3 percent), recreation (7.4 percent), and medical care (4.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in used cars and trucks (-10.0 percent).

Table A. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

January

2.6 0.3 2.3 0.4 1.7 2.0 8.2 1.8 6.4

March

0.5 2.2 0.0 1.8 2.4 4.1 2.1 7.9

May

1.0 3.8 -0.4 0.3 0.7 5.3 1.1 8.3

July

-0.3 1.4 1.4 2.1 2.1 6.0 1.2 7.3

September

0.6 1.7 -0.4 1.1 0.1 6.5 0.9 8.2

November

0.2 2.6 0.6 1.6 0.7 6.6 -0.7 6.7

The March 2023 Consumer Price Index for the San Diego area 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 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
Nov.
2022
Dec.
2022
Jan.
2023
Jan.
2022
Nov.
2022
Dec.
2022

Expenditure category

All items

348.145 - 354.453 6.4 1.8 -

All items (1967=100)

1,177.186 - 1,198.513 - - -

Food and beverages

305.094 - 312.294 3.8 2.4 -

Food

304.034 - 310.318 3.6 2.1 -

Food at home

278.354 276.696 281.196 9.0 1.0 1.6

Cereals and bakery products

341.585 - 360.156 18.4 5.4 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

280.913 - 279.220 -0.8 -0.6 -

Dairy and related products

228.207 - 232.246 22.0 1.8 -

Fruits and vegetables

283.022 - 291.932 4.8 3.1 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

308.513 - 301.742 2.7 -2.2 -

Other food at home

271.671 - 272.464 14.4 0.3 -

Food away from home

335.072 - 347.597 -2.3 3.7 -

Alcoholic beverages

304.874 - 321.588 6.3 5.5 -

Housing

410.969 - 427.507 10.0 4.0 -

Shelter

466.663 474.437 477.403 9.3 2.3 0.6

Rent of primary residence(2)

462.692 467.998 470.769 9.0 1.7 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

496.347 505.549 508.275 10.1 2.4 0.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

496.347 505.549 508.275 10.1 2.4 0.5

Fuels and utilities

442.664 - 555.482 23.6 25.5 -

Household energy

432.944 449.880 596.432 32.1 37.8 32.6

Energy services

426.176 444.132 592.067 32.7 38.9 33.3

Electricity

425.144 425.144 492.686 13.4 15.9 15.9

Utility (piped) gas service

299.945 359.295 738.062 116.3 146.1 105.4

Household furnishings and operations

204.113 - 209.406 4.6 2.6 -

Apparel

173.946 - 178.142 1.1 2.4 -

Transportation

289.404 - 279.733 1.8 -3.3 -

Private transportation

289.134 - 278.104 2.0 -3.8 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

135.144 - 133.889 0.7 -0.9 -

New vehicles(1)

256.262 - 259.263 5.0 1.2 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

320.262 - 308.255 -10.0 -3.7 -

Motor fuel

424.637 363.937 362.898 -1.2 -14.5 -0.3

Gasoline (all types)

423.218 362.241 360.873 -1.6 -14.7 -0.4

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

438.571 374.512 373.110 -1.9 -14.9 -0.4

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

368.268 316.971 315.507 -1.3 -14.3 -0.5

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

431.330 372.743 371.309 -0.6 -13.9 -0.4

Medical care

548.175 - 549.305 4.4 0.2 -

Recreation(3)

179.078 - 182.118 7.4 1.7 -

Education and communication(3)

142.782 - 142.085 1.5 -0.5 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,665.355 - 1,665.861 3.6 0.0 -

Other goods and services

481.837 - 484.360 7.1 0.5 -

Commodity and service group

All items

348.145 - 354.453 6.4 1.8 -

Commodities

239.221 - 238.472 1.8 -0.3 -

Commodities less food & beverages

204.440 - 200.512 0.6 -1.9 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

249.158 - 240.138 2.3 -3.6 -

Durables

159.423 - 159.677 -1.4 0.2 -

Services

443.374 - 456.410 9.0 2.9 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

338.621 - 345.149 6.6 1.9 -

All items less shelter

300.863 - 305.584 4.8 1.6 -

Commodities less food

208.993 - 205.712 0.8 -1.6 -

Nondurables

278.740 - 277.496 3.1 -0.4 -

Nondurables less food

254.906 - 247.668 2.6 -2.8 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

438.044 - 455.524 8.7 4.0 -

Services less medical care services

429.842 - 443.756 9.4 3.2 -

Energy

422.190 390.045 442.244 12.6 4.7 13.4

All items less energy

347.034 - 352.655 6.0 1.6 -

All items less food and energy

355.909 - 361.540 6.5 1.6 -

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, February 14, 2023