Consumer Price Index, San Francisco Area — December 2021

News Release Information

22-51-SAN
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Area prices were up 0.8 percent over the past two months, up 4.2 percent from a year ago

Prices in the San Francisco area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.8 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 new and used motor vehicles. (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 4.2 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices increased 5.2 percent. Energy prices jumped 28.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

Food prices rose 0.6 percent for the two months ending in December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.6 percent, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (3.6 percent). Prices for food away from home advanced 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 5.2 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 6.6 percent, influenced by higher prices for cereals and bakery products (10.3 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (9.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 3.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.6 percent for the two months ending in December. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (3.7 percent). Prices for electricity increased 0.4 percent, but prices for natural gas service declined 5.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices surged 28.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (44.2 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 27.8 percent, and prices for electricity advanced 9.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.8 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (10.3 percent), household furnishings and operations (2.0 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for recreation (-0.8 percent), motor vehicle insurance (-0.7 percent), and education and communication (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 2.8 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (16.8 percent), recreation (8.4 percent), education and communication (3.2 percent), and shelter (0.8 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in alcoholic beverages (-5.9 percent).

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.8	3.4	1.4	3.6	0.5	3.5	0.9	2.9	0.5	1.6
April	1.1	3.8	0.8	3.2	1.2	4.0	-0.5	1.1	1.7	3.8
June	0.3	3.5	0.9	3.9	0.2	3.2	0.7	1.6	0.0	3.2
August	0.2	3.0	0.6	4.3	0.1	2.7	0.0	1.6	0.5	3.7
October	0.6	2.7	0.7	4.4	1.0	3.0	0.5	1.1	0.7	3.8
December	-0.1	2.9	0.1	4.5	-0.5	2.5	0.4	2.0	0.8	4.2

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

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on October 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 San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo Counties in the State of California.

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		313.265	-	315.805	4.2	0.8	-
All items (1967=100)		963.065	-	970.872	-	-	-
Food and beverages		322.908	-	324.575	4.3	0.5	-
Food		323.908	-	325.866	5.2	0.6	-
Food at home		293.297	293.207	294.986	6.6	0.6	0.6
Cereals and bakery products		293.958	-	302.276	10.3	2.8	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		331.227	-	331.492	9.4	0.1	-
Dairy and related products		292.905	-	294.216	0.5	0.4	-
Fruits and vegetables		375.572	-	389.201	2.2	3.6	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		217.188	-	218.251	9.0	0.5	-
Other food at home		246.222	-	240.545	7.0	-2.3	-
Food away from home		357.869	-	360.146	3.6	0.6	-
Alcoholic beverages		314.172	-	312.260	-5.9	-0.6	-
Housing		365.291	-	366.364	1.6	0.3	-
Shelter		411.127	411.193	411.972	0.8	0.2	0.2
Rent of primary residence		467.014	466.906	467.588	-0.3	0.1	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		442.741	442.915	443.052	0.9	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		442.741	442.915	443.052	0.9	0.1	0.0
Fuels and utilities		494.755	-	492.167	9.7	-0.5	-
Household energy		442.615	437.335	439.008	13.3	-0.8	0.4
Energy services		444.291	438.960	440.057	13.1	-1.0	0.2
Electricity		456.616	456.616	458.389	9.6	0.4	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service		427.980	405.585	404.609	27.8	-5.5	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations		155.157	-	158.186	2.7	2.0	-
Apparel		107.568	-	107.828	8.3	0.2	-
Transportation		225.415	-	236.457	17.4	4.9	-
Private transportation		227.477	-	240.566	19.3	5.8	-
New and used motor vehicles		105.032	-	115.888	16.8	10.3	-
New vehicles		164.666	-	187.999	14.2	14.2	-
Used cars and trucks		346.626	-	368.270	36.4	6.2	-
Motor fuel		330.112	343.726	342.260	44.1	3.7	-0.4
Gasoline (all types)		329.013	342.490	341.048	44.2	3.7	-0.4
Gasoline, unleaded regular		329.538	343.075	341.411	45.0	3.6	-0.5
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade		306.323	318.793	317.984	41.3	3.8	-0.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium		309.976	322.541	321.924	41.4	3.9	-0.2
Motor vehicle insurance		544.878	-	541.277	3.8	-0.7	-
Medical care		556.119	-	561.352	3.0	0.9	-
Recreation		137.519	-	136.386	8.4	-0.8	-
Education and communication		156.095	-	155.817	3.2	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		1,912.969	-	-	-	-	-
Other goods and services		528.550	-	533.001	1.9	0.8	-
Commodity and service group
All items		313.265	-	315.805	4.2	0.8	-
Commodities		212.354	-	217.808	9.6	2.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages		153.549	-	160.582	15.2	4.6	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		204.795	-	208.754	16.8	1.9	-
Durables		104.655	-	113.292	13.2	8.3	-
Services		397.910	-	398.306	2.2	0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		303.234	-	305.667	4.3	0.8	-
All items less shelter		274.141	-	277.666	7.1	1.3	-
Commodities less food		160.635	-	167.436	13.6	4.2	-
Nondurables		265.273	-	268.041	8.6	1.0	-
Nondurables less food		213.438	-	216.969	13.8	1.7	-
Services less rent of shelter		400.518	-	400.231	4.3	-0.1	-
Services less medical care services		386.781	-	387.032	2.1	0.1	-
Energy		376.880	383.047	382.822	28.2	1.6	-0.1
All items less energy		314.059	-	316.469	3.1	0.8	-
All items less food and energy		313.376	-	315.864	2.8	0.8	-
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.