Consumer Price Index, Los Angeles area — December 2021

News Release Information

22-50-SAN
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Area prices were up 0.4 percent over the past month, up 6.6 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.4 percent in December, 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 household furnishings and operations as well as 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 6.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 7.0 percent. Energy prices jumped 33.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.4 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.7 percent, with four of the six grocery categories recording increases. Prices for food away from home edged up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 7.0 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 8.1 percent. Increases across food at home expenditure categories ranged from 4.7 percent for cereals and bakery products to 10.5 percent for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs. Prices for food away from home increased 6.0 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index inched down 0.1 percent over the month. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for natural gas service (-4.9 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged, while gasoline prices increased 0.6 percent in December.

Energy prices surged 33.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (46.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service rose 18.3 percent, and prices for electricity moved up 15.5 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.4 percent in December. Higher prices for household furnishings and operations (4.7 percent) and shelter (0.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.7 percent) and apparel (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (13.7 percent), recreation (7.2 percent), motor vehicle insurance (7.2 percent), and shelter (3.4 percent).

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.9	2.1	0.8	3.5	0.7	3.2	0.8	3.1	0.2	0.9
February	0.6	2.7	0.7	3.6	0.1	2.5	0.3	3.4	0.4	1.0
March	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9	0.5	2.2
April	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7	1.1	3.6
May	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9	0.6	3.9
June	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4	0.6	4.0
July	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3	0.6	1.9	0.6	3.9
August	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0	0.1	2.0	0.2	4.0
September	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0	-0.3	1.2	0.3	4.6
October	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2	0.2	0.7	0.9	5.4
November	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2	0.1	1.0	0.6	6.0
December	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0	-0.2	1.5	0.4	6.6

The January 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on February 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 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals 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		294.961	296.790	297.925	6.6	1.0	0.4
All items (1967=100)		871.446	876.850	880.203	-	-	-
Food and beverages		297.368	298.977	300.134	6.6	0.9	0.4
Food		298.270	300.120	301.208	7.0	1.0	0.4
Food at home		281.931	284.755	286.611	8.1	1.7	0.7
Cereals and bakery products		288.772	291.195	290.078	4.7	0.5	-0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		327.493	324.692	325.629	10.5	-0.6	0.3
Dairy and related products		266.584	267.862	271.117	5.3	1.7	1.2
Fruits and vegetables		385.225	388.020	394.158	9.6	2.3	1.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		276.394	270.473	279.831	4.8	1.2	3.5
Other food at home		209.249	220.157	218.448	9.4	4.4	-0.8
Food away from home		311.173	312.056	312.385	6.0	0.4	0.1
Alcoholic beverages		265.390	264.053	265.933	1.3	0.2	0.7
Housing		335.703	337.098	339.010	4.6	1.0	0.6
Shelter		383.359	385.570	386.939	3.4	0.9	0.4
Rent of primary residence		405.103	408.175	410.109	2.7	1.2	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		397.170	399.307	400.507	2.4	0.8	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		397.148	399.284	400.484	2.4	0.8	0.3
Fuels and utilities		418.268	414.671	410.184	14.2	-1.9	-1.1
Household energy		372.163	367.610	362.899	16.2	-2.5	-1.3
Energy services		370.722	366.119	361.304	16.2	-2.5	-1.3
Electricity		416.524	417.018	417.018	15.5	0.1	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service		326.374	310.704	295.370	18.3	-9.5	-4.9
Household furnishings and operations		122.287	122.333	128.061	7.9	4.7	4.7
Apparel		111.738	111.799	111.021	6.2	-0.6	-0.7
Transportation		238.859	244.320	245.065	18.8	2.6	0.3
Private transportation		241.118	246.856	248.342	21.1	3.0	0.6
New and used motor vehicles		101.788	104.080	104.756	13.7	2.9	0.6
New vehicles		182.247	187.171	187.780	9.2	3.0	0.3
Used cars and trucks		366.699	376.814	389.596	35.7	6.2	3.4
Motor fuel		337.507	350.330	352.368	46.4	4.4	0.6
Gasoline (all types)		329.770	342.229	344.224	46.5	4.4	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded regular		330.443	343.100	345.072	47.5	4.4	0.6
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade		315.705	327.223	329.435	44.3	4.3	0.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium		315.639	326.968	328.944	43.0	4.2	0.6
Motor vehicle insurance		827.745	828.618	844.557	7.2	2.0	1.9
Medical care		516.343	518.378	519.176	2.6	0.5	0.2
Recreation		114.705	114.333	113.477	7.2	-1.1	-0.7
Education and communication		153.911	154.044	154.360	1.7	0.3	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		2,079.998	2,080.520	2,080.565	6.0	0.0	0.0
Other goods and services		474.267	474.449	480.834	5.9	1.4	1.3
Commodity and service group
All items		294.961	296.790	297.925	6.6	1.0	0.4
Commodities		201.865	204.050	205.130	11.1	1.6	0.5
Commodities less food & beverages		152.660	155.044	156.057	15.3	2.2	0.7
Nondurables less food & beverages		208.647	211.655	212.342	18.7	1.8	0.3
Durables		98.754	100.492	101.692	10.2	3.0	1.2
Services		377.150	378.563	379.713	4.3	0.7	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		285.216	287.026	288.165	6.8	1.0	0.4
All items less shelter		255.841	257.498	258.528	8.7	1.1	0.4
Commodities less food		157.666	159.936	160.987	14.4	2.1	0.7
Nondurables		254.317	256.638	257.565	11.3	1.3	0.4
Nondurables less food		214.896	217.612	218.394	16.9	1.6	0.4
Services less rent of shelter		378.290	378.575	379.432	5.6	0.3	0.2
Services less medical care services		363.935	365.350	366.499	4.5	0.7	0.3
Energy		352.252	358.976	358.625	33.9	1.8	-0.1
All items less energy		293.463	294.979	296.222	4.8	0.9	0.4
All items less food and energy		292.702	294.154	295.428	4.4	0.9	0.4
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.