Prices in the Seattle area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.4 percent for the two months ending in February 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that 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 8.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 10.4 percent. Energy prices rose 7.1 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 7.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, February 2020–February 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Feb 2020	2.5	2.4
Apr 2020	1.3	1.6
Jun 2020	0.9	1.1
Aug 2020	1.6	1.4
Oct 2020	2.1	2.4
Dec 2020	1.4	1.3
Feb 2021	1.7	1.3
Apr 2021	3.4	2.7
Jun 2021	5.5	4.6
Aug 2021	5.2	4.1
Oct 2021	6.5	5.3
Dec 2021	7.6	6.5
Feb 2022	8.1	7.0
Apr 2022	9.1	7.8
Jun 2022	10.1	8.8
Aug 2022	9.0	8.2
Oct 2022	8.9	7.7
Dec 2022	8.4	8.1
Feb 2023	8.0	7.7

Food prices increased 1.5 percent for the two months ending in February. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 1.9 percent, with higher prices in four of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home increased 0.8 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 10.4 percent. Prices for food at home rose 6.6 percent since a year ago. Price increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 0.6 percent for fruits and vegetables to 18.7 percent for cereals and bakery products. Prices for food away from home advanced 16.2 percent.

The energy index advanced 3.3 percent for the two months ending in February. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for electricity (6.7 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 5.0 percent, and prices for gasoline increased 1.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 7.1 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (5.0 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service moved up 17.5 percent, and prices for electricity increased 7.0 percent during the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (3.9 percent) and shelter (1.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-2.8 percent) and education and communication (-1.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 7.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (11.0 percent) and recreation (8.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-14.2 percent) and apparel (-3.7 percent).

The April 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle area is scheduled to be released on May 10, 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in the State of Washington.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (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		330.489	-	334.987	8.0	1.4	-
All items (1967=100)		1,007.460	-	1,021.172	-	-	-
Food and beverages		350.036	-	355.033	9.8	1.4	-
Food		354.184	-	359.537	10.4	1.5	-
Food at home		314.608	317.695	320.613	6.6	1.9	0.9
Cereals and bakery products		360.165	-	377.476	18.7	4.8	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		282.985	-	294.298	3.6	4.0	-
Dairy and related products		276.227	-	295.374	13.1	6.9	-
Fruits and vegetables		490.141	-	484.436	0.6	-1.2	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)		404.313	-	411.131	4.1	1.7	-
Other food at home		249.910	-	249.030	7.7	-0.4	-
Food away from home		417.676	-	421.081	16.2	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages		299.740	-	301.460	3.5	0.6	-
Housing		393.061	-	399.950	9.6	1.8	-
Shelter		450.460	453.249	456.994	11.0	1.5	0.8
Rent of primary residence(2)		452.639	458.693	462.371	10.6	2.2	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)		474.008	475.305	478.695	10.6	1.0	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)		474.008	475.305	478.695	10.6	1.0	0.7
Fuels and utilities		307.204	-	322.319	7.0	4.9	-
Household energy		275.674	292.573	292.154	9.6	6.0	-0.1
Energy services(2)		322.431	342.564	342.564	9.5	6.2	0.0
Electricity(2)		336.000	358.495	358.495	7.0	6.7	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service(2)		211.701	222.311	222.311	17.5	5.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		224.934	-	229.626	2.4	2.1	-
Apparel		125.508	-	130.382	-3.7	3.9	-
Transportation		285.623	-	287.302	9.4	0.6	-
Private transportation		299.263	-	299.920	8.4	0.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(4)		124.161	-	124.409	-0.9	0.2	-
New vehicles(1)		220.509	-	222.984	4.8	1.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)		433.491	-	421.222	-14.2	-2.8	-
Motor fuel		468.805	458.680	476.176	5.4	1.6	3.8
Gasoline (all types)		475.340	465.596	483.782	5.0	1.8	3.9
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)		514.752	504.929	524.462	5.1	1.9	3.9
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)		379.005	368.688	382.790	4.6	1.0	3.8
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)		441.171	429.864	447.338	4.8	1.4	4.1
Medical care		431.457	-	432.231	-0.2	0.2	-
Recreation(6)		116.600	-	118.367	8.8	1.5	-
Education and communication(6)		150.296	-	148.628	1.3	-1.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)		-	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		-	-	484.378	6.9	-	-
Commodity and service group
All items		330.489	-	334.987	8.0	1.4	-
Commodities		239.014	-	241.835	4.6	1.2	-
Commodities less food & beverages		187.076	-	189.013	1.3	1.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		216.686	-	222.166	4.0	2.5	-
Durables		155.063	-	154.807	-0.9	-0.2	-
Services		414.626	-	420.780	10.1	1.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		326.206	-	330.867	8.6	1.4	-
All items less shelter		284.119	-	287.833	6.3	1.3	-
Commodities less food		191.476	-	193.414	1.4	1.0	-
Nondurables		280.607	-	285.948	7.4	1.9	-
Nondurables less food		223.676	-	228.872	4.0	2.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(3)		380.871	-	386.687	8.7	1.5	-
Services less medical care services		409.149	-	415.928	11.1	1.7	-
Energy		380.808	385.065	393.429	7.1	3.3	2.2
All items less energy		331.390	-	335.602	8.1	1.3	-
All items less food and energy		327.795	-	331.830	7.7	1.2	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a November 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.