Consumer Price Index, Anchorage area — December 2021

News Release Information

22-54-SAN
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Area prices were up 0.4 percent over the past two months, up 7.2 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent for the two months ending in December 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the December increase was influenced by higher prices for used cars and trucks and 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 7.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 9.3 percent. Energy prices jumped 19.7 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.5 percent for the two months ending in December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home inched down 0.1 percent. Prices decreased across most food sub-categories last month. Prices for food away from home advanced 1.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 9.3 percent. Prices for food at home rose 10.6 percent since a year ago. Food sub-category prices increased from a low of 2.9 percent for dairy and related products to a high of 14.1 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Prices for food away from home increased 7.3 percent for the two-month period.

Energy

The energy index inched up 0.2 percent for the two months ending in December. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (0.2 percent). Prices for electricity and natural gas service did not change from October to December.

Energy prices jumped 19.7 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (53.3 percent). Prices paid for electricity declined 9.6 percent, and prices for natural gas service declined 1.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for used cars and trucks (6.3 percent), recreation (1.8 percent), and shelter (0.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-3.3 percent) and alcoholic beverages (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 5.7 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (18.1 percent) and shelter (4.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in motor vehicle insurance (-7.8 percent).

Month	2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.3	2.5	0.0	-0.3	1.0	1.3
April	0.6	2.7	-1.6	-2.5	1.8	4.8
June	2.5	2.5	1.0	-3.8	2.5	6.2
August	-1.6	0.7	0.8	-1.5	0.3	5.7
October	-1.2	-0.3	0.6	0.3	1.2	6.3
December	-0.5	0.0	-0.5	0.3	0.4	7.2

The February 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage area is scheduled to be released on March 10, 2022.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended almost entirely since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in December was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month.

For each month from March 2020 to December 2021, BLS has published a summary of the impact of the pandemic on the Consumer Price Index news release and data. The impact summary for December is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/consumer-price-index-covid19-impacts-december-2021.htm. Beginning with publication of January 2022 data in February 2022, this month-specific impact summary will be discontinued. However, information related to the impact of the pandemic will continue to be available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.

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/cpiand 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 Alaska area covered in this release consists of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the State of Alaska.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

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		242.708	-	243.568	7.2	0.4	-
All items (1967=100)		647.822	-	650.118	-	-	-
Food and beverages		243.523	-	244.575	8.8	0.4	-
Food		252.664	-	253.883	9.3	0.5	-
Food at home		251.671	251.890	251.538	10.6	-0.1	-0.1
Cereals and bakery products		262.046	-	258.916	9.9	-1.2	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		267.774	-	260.442	14.1	-2.7	-
Dairy and related products		236.049	-	225.006	2.9	-4.7	-
Fruits and vegetables		375.387	-	372.061	6.4	-0.9	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		161.686	-	162.602	10.0	0.6	-
Other food at home		199.766	-	209.672	13.6	5.0	-
Food away from home		251.008	-	254.446	7.3	1.4	-
Alcoholic beverages		157.906	-	157.610	3.2	-0.2	-
Housing		212.321	-	213.527	3.6	0.6	-
Shelter		211.174	211.476	212.328	4.3	0.5	0.4
Rent of primary residence		205.303	206.102	207.073	3.4	0.9	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		212.363	212.706	213.513	4.1	0.5	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		212.363	212.706	213.513	4.1	0.5	0.4
Fuels and utilities		347.442	-	347.493	-3.4	0.0	-
Household energy		354.620	354.766	354.688	-5.7	0.0	0.0
Energy services		393.217	393.217	393.217	-6.2	0.0	0.0
Electricity		337.170	337.170	337.170	-9.6	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		466.730	466.730	466.730	-1.7	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations		142.469	-	144.421	7.0	1.4	-
Apparel		154.407	-	149.243	10.0	-3.3	-
Transportation		263.933	-	264.542	23.5	0.2	-
Private transportation		271.533	-	274.918	22.9	1.2	-
New and used motor vehicles		129.306	-	131.841	18.1	2.0	-
New vehicles		264.254	-	264.254	5.5	0.0	-
Used cars and trucks		368.785	-	392.086	38.1	6.3	-
Motor fuel		305.128	306.350	306.124	53.3	0.3	-0.1
Gasoline (all types)		307.215	308.121	307.909	53.3	0.2	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular		296.118	296.943	296.542	54.1	0.1	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade		294.181	295.386	295.134	51.6	0.3	-0.1
Gasoline, unleaded premium		313.125	314.209	314.815	49.5	0.5	0.2
Motor vehicle insurance		805.771	-	805.771	-7.8	0.0	-
Medical care		670.439	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation		130.806	-	133.166	3.8	1.8	-
Education and communication		115.240	-	116.063	0.8	0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		764.593	-	764.593	0.4	0.0	-
Other goods and services		389.457	-	390.283	4.1	0.2	-
Commodity and service group
All items		242.708	-	243.568	7.2	0.4	-
Commodities		205.209	-	207.206	12.6	1.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		185.434	-	187.882	15.1	1.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		230.741	-	231.730	17.0	0.4	-
Durables		145.644	-	148.912	13.1	2.2	-
Services		274.274	-	274.053	3.7	-0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		227.901	-	228.925	7.8	0.4	-
All items less shelter		256.750	-	257.440	8.5	0.3	-
Commodities less food		184.468	-	186.776	14.5	1.3	-
Nondurables		238.110	-	239.135	12.3	0.4	-
Nondurables less food		224.961	-	225.805	15.7	0.4	-
Services less rent of shelter		378.532	-	375.668	3.0	-0.8	-
Services less medical care services		250.738	-	250.729	4.0	0.0	-
Energy		326.952	327.733	327.567	19.7	0.2	-0.1
All items less energy		238.129	-	239.005	6.3	0.4	-
All items less food and energy		235.939	-	236.755	5.7	0.3	-
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.