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News Release Information

19-963-SAN
Wednesday, June 12, 2019

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

Consumer Price Index, Riverside Area – May 2019

Area prices were up 1.2 percent over the past two months, up 2.9 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.2 percent for the two months ending in May 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the May increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline 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 increased 2.9 percent.  (See chart 1 and table A.) Energy prices increased 7.6 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices inched down 0.1 percent for the two months ending in May. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home decreased 0.6 percent, but prices for food away from home rose 0.4 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 1.9 percent. Prices for food away from home rose 3.2 percent since a year ago, and prices for food at home advanced 0.5 percent.

Energy

The energy index jumped 12.9 percent for the two months ending in May. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (20.8 percent). Prices for electricity edged up 0.2 percent, but prices for natural gas service decreased 3.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices increased 7.6 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (10.6 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 6.0 percent, and prices for electricity rose 0.7 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for shelter (0.9 percent) and medical care (0.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-5.6 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-2.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included education and communication (4.1 percent) and shelter (4.0 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decline in apparel (-6.2 percent).

The July 2019 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on August 13, 2019.


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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in the State of California.

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

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (December 2017=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Mar.
2019
Apr.
2019
May
2019
May
2018
Mar.
2019
Apr.
2019

Expenditure category

All items

104.749-105.9592.91.2-

Food and beverages

103.091-103.1601.90.1-

Food

103.310-103.2081.9-0.1-

Food at home

101.347100.477100.7310.5-0.60.3

Cereals and bakery products

104.160-100.830-3.0-3.2-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

101.305-99.455-2.0-1.8-

Dairy and related products

104.009-102.9824.2-1.0-

Fruits and vegetables

100.928-99.8301.2-1.1-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

104.065-103.7453.3-0.3-

Other food at home

98.006-100.1871.22.2-

Food away from home

105.299-105.7173.20.4-

Food away from home

105.299-105.7173.20.4-

Alcoholic beverages

99.389-102.3522.33.0-

Housing

105.321-106.0733.80.7-

Shelter

105.414105.796106.3954.00.90.6

Rent of primary residence

105.010105.311105.8854.30.80.5

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

105.143105.779106.5574.51.30.7

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

105.143105.779106.5574.51.30.7

Fuels and utilities

108.780-108.6844.3-0.1-

Household energy

107.086104.645105.9971.7-1.01.3

Energy services

107.071104.570106.2541.9-0.81.6

Electricity

104.409104.568104.5770.70.20.0

Utility (piped) gas service

116.285104.576112.0536.0-3.67.1

Household furnishings and operations

100.003-99.6180.8-0.4-

Apparel

104.730-98.815-6.2-5.6-

Transportation

106.459-112.4413.75.6-

Private transportation

106.474-112.4154.05.6-

New and used motor vehicles

102.721-100.163-1.3-2.5-

New vehicles

102.620-101.074-0.3-1.5-

Used cars and trucks

102.675-101.393-0.4-1.2-

Motor fuel

111.006127.737133.89910.520.64.8

Gasoline (all types)

111.025127.879134.06410.620.84.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

111.150128.269134.49710.621.04.9

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

111.156126.695133.07911.119.75.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

110.268125.971131.89610.519.64.7

Motor vehicle insurance

110.121-110.1214.50.0-

Medical care

101.665-102.4161.60.7-

Recreation

102.147-101.5021.4-0.6-

Education and communication

103.917-103.5864.1-0.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

111.974-111.84012.0-0.1-

Other goods and services

107.097-106.5664.3-0.5-

Commodity and service group

All items

104.749-105.9592.91.2-

Commodities

103.759-105.9301.62.1-

Commodities less food & beverages

104.205-107.7841.43.4-

Nondurables less food & beverages

104.962-112.3042.17.0-

Durables

103.116-101.2770.3-1.8-

Services

105.358-105.9773.80.6-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

104.964-106.2063.01.2-

All items less shelter

104.377-105.7162.31.3-

Commodities less food

104.032-107.5881.43.4-

Nondurables

103.968-107.4452.03.3-

Nondurables less food

104.630-111.7112.16.8-

Services less rent of shelter

105.277-105.4063.50.1-

Services less medical care services

105.566-106.1153.80.5-

Energy

109.575119.309123.7167.612.93.7

All items less energy

104.316-104.3652.50.0-

All items less food and energy

104.503-104.5812.60.1-

Footnotes
(1) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2019