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News Release Information

17-982-SAN
Friday, July 14, 2017

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

Consumer Price Index, Seattle area — June 2017

Area prices were up 0.8 percent over the past two months, up 3.0 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Seattle Area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.8 percent for the two months ending in June 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the June increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and apparel. (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 rose 3.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices rose 5.0 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged up 0.1 percent for the two months ending in June. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home inched up 0.1 percent, and prices for food at home were unchanged for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 1.6 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 2.8 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home rose 0.7 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.8 percent for the two months ending in June. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-2.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service increased 2.5 percent, and prices for electricity moved up 1.5 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 5.0 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (6.1 percent). Prices paid for electricity increased 4.1 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 2.4 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for apparel (9.8 percent) and shelter (1.4 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-0.7 percent) and medical care (-0.7 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 3.1 percent. Components contributing to the increase included apparel (7.1 percent) and shelter (6.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price declines in education and communication (-4.5 percent) and recreation (-3.8 percent).

Table A. Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton CPI-U bi-monthly and annual percent changes (not seasonally adjusted)
Month201220132014201520162017
Bi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnualBi-monthlyAnnual

February

0.42.70.81.80.71.20.21.10.22.21.03.4

April

0.92.90.41.21.62.40.90.41.12.50.83.1

June

0.72.70.81.40.42.01.61.60.91.80.83.0

August

0.32.70.01.1-0.21.80.01.80.32.1  

October

0.52.30.00.60.32.1-0.31.20.02.4  

December

-1.41.4-0.71.3-1.11.7-0.22.20.02.6  

The August 2017 Consumer Price Index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2017.


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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-Bremerton, WA. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston Counties in the State of Washington.

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

Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, WA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Indexes
 
Percent change from-
Apr.
2017
May
2017
Jun.
2017
Jun.
2016
Apr.
2017
May
2017

Expenditure category

 
 

All items

261.560-263.7563.00.8-

All items (1967=100)

797.336-804.030---

Food and beverages

264.898-264.6491.6-0.1-

Food

267.353-267.5641.60.1-

Food at home

248.565249.725248.6220.70.0-0.4

Food away from home

296.316-296.7512.80.1-

Alcoholic beverages

235.004-230.1030.8-2.1-

Housing

299.840-303.1895.61.1-

Shelter

340.260342.303344.9286.31.40.8

Rent of primary residence(1)

344.915347.695349.8896.91.40.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

354.830356.837358.3386.11.00.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

354.830356.837358.3386.11.00.4

Fuels and utilities

266.512-268.6863.40.8-

Household energy

244.134247.848246.4193.80.9-0.6

Energy services(1)

290.301295.234295.2923.81.70.0

Electricity(1)

315.770320.624320.6244.11.50.0

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

167.251171.324171.5102.42.50.1

Household furnishings and operations

176.428-175.1552.2-0.7-

Apparel

128.106-140.7167.19.8-

Transportation

218.595-219.2692.70.3-

Private transportation

224.642-224.7702.80.1-

Motor fuel

314.986312.238307.5436.1-2.4-1.5

Gasoline (all types)

321.894319.015314.1116.1-2.4-1.5

Gasoline, unleaded regular(3)

348.935345.791340.3295.9-2.5-1.6

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

253.684250.765248.2487.1-2.1-1.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(3)

297.967295.566291.4337.2-2.2-1.4

Medical care

397.176-394.3861.7-0.7-

Recreation(5)

95.171-95.793-3.80.7-

Education and communication(5)

133.051-132.558-4.5-0.4-

Other goods and services

407.189-410.5242.70.8-
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All items

261.560-263.7563.00.8-

Commodities

191.062-191.8432.00.4-

Commodities less food & beverages

154.702-155.8982.40.8-

Nondurables less food & beverages

185.553-188.2934.31.5-

Durables

123.628-123.441-0.1-0.2-

Services

327.230-330.7573.51.1-
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

255.440-257.8733.11.0-

All items less shelter

231.578-232.8271.20.5-

Commodities less food

158.066-159.0412.30.6-

Nondurables

223.585-224.9182.80.6-

Nondurables less food

189.717-191.8944.01.1-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

319.657-321.8810.20.7-

Services less medical care services

319.230-323.1013.71.2-

Energy

285.632286.356283.3155.0-0.8-1.1

All items less energy

262.966-265.4612.90.9-

All items less food and energy

262.470-265.3533.11.1-

Footnotes
(1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator.
(2) Index is on a November 1982=100 base.
(3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, July 14, 2017