Prices in the Los Angeles area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), rose 0.2 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the January increase was influenced by higher prices for gasoline and 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 rose 0.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) This marks the eleventh consecutive month of price increases of 2.0 percent or less. Food prices increased 3.5 percent. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent over the year. Energy prices declined 2.4 percent, largely the result of a decrease in the price of gasoline. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 0.3 percent for the month of January. (See table 1.) Prices for food away from home rose 0.5 percent. Prices for food at home increased 0.2 percent for the same period, largely due to price advances for dairy and related products (2.5 percent) and fruits and vegetables (1.4 percent).

Over the year, food prices increased 3.5 percent. Prices for food away from home increased 4.4 percent. Prices for food at home increased 2.5 percent since a year ago, led by higher prices for fruits and vegetables (5.2 percent).

Energy

The energy index rose 3.2 percent over the month. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service moved up 2.5 percent, but prices for electricity inched down 0.1 percent for the same period.

Energy prices declined 2.4 percent over the year, largely due to lower prices for gasoline (-8.0 percent). Prices paid for electricity advanced 7.4 percent, and prices for natural gas service rose 6.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy were unchanged in January. Higher prices for apparel (2.5 percent) and shelter (0.2 percent) helped counter lower prices for recreation (-3.6 percent), new vehicles (-1.9 percent), and education and communication (-1.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included medical care (2.3 percent) and shelter (1.2 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in recreation (-5.2 percent) and apparel (-4.4 percent).

Table A. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

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
March	0.3	2.7	0.4	3.8	0.6	2.7	-0.7	1.9
April	0.2	2.7	0.4	4.0	1.0	3.3	-0.3	0.7
May	0.3	2.5	0.4	4.1	0.2	3.1	0.4	0.9
June	-0.2	2.2	-0.2	4.0	0.0	3.3	0.5	1.4
July	0.3	2.5	0.2	3.9	0.1	3.3	0.6	1.9
August	0.3	2.8	0.2	3.9	0.0	3.0	0.1	2.0
September	0.4	3.1	0.5	3.9	0.5	3.0	-0.3	1.2
October	0.4	3.1	0.5	4.1	0.7	3.2	0.2	0.7
November	0.1	3.6	-0.3	3.6	-0.3	3.2	0.1	1.0
December	0.0	3.6	-0.3	3.2	-0.6	3.0	-0.2	1.5

The February 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area is scheduled to be released on March 10, 2021.

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/cpi and 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: (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

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Jan. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020
Expenditure category
All items	280.102	279.560	280.178	0.9	0.0	0.2
All items (1967=100)	827.545	825.943	827.771	-	-	-
Food and beverages	281.077	281.658	282.411	4.1	0.5	0.3
Food	280.852	281.552	282.453	3.5	0.6	0.3
Food at home	264.325	265.017	265.426	2.5	0.4	0.2
Cereals and bakery products	276.914	277.127	274.140	0.2	-1.0	-1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	294.640	294.757	290.529	2.6	-1.4	-1.4
Dairy and related products	254.654	257.360	263.911	3.1	3.6	2.5
Fruits and vegetables	360.548	359.525	364.430	5.2	1.1	1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	263.921	267.137	270.014	1.5	2.3	1.1
Other food at home	199.194	199.659	199.499	1.6	0.2	-0.1
Food away from home	294.116	294.816	296.186	4.4	0.7	0.5
Alcoholic beverages	263.423	262.588	261.550	11.6	-0.7	-0.4
Housing	324.681	324.149	324.947	1.5	0.1	0.2
Shelter	374.409	374.059	374.862	1.2	0.1	0.2
Rent of primary residence(2)	399.286	399.271	399.228	1.1	0.0	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)(3)	391.008	391.045	391.601	1.5	0.2	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	390.986	391.023	391.579	1.5	0.2	0.1
Fuels and utilities	358.059	359.099	363.244	7.3	1.4	1.2
Household energy	311.089	312.367	314.114	7.1	1.0	0.6
Energy services(2)	309.675	310.964	312.707	7.1	1.0	0.6
Electricity(2)	361.082	361.082	360.746	7.4	-0.1	-0.1
Utility (piped) gas service(2)	245.671	249.775	256.013	6.3	4.2	2.5
Household furnishings and operations	120.354	118.717	118.378	-0.3	-1.6	-0.3
Apparel	109.352	104.579	107.232	-4.4	-1.9	2.5
Transportation	205.939	206.284	208.813	-2.7	1.4	1.2
Private transportation	202.898	205.099	208.134	-1.5	2.6	1.5
New and used motor vehicles(4)	91.440	92.134	91.787	1.2	0.4	-0.4
New vehicles(1)	170.244	171.936	168.749	-0.4	-0.9	-1.9
Used cars and trucks(1)	289.811	287.062	284.903	9.1	-1.7	-0.8
Motor fuel	238.730	240.660	252.791	-8.0	5.9	5.0
Gasoline (all types)	233.181	235.018	246.904	-8.0	5.9	5.1
Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)	232.135	234.021	246.180	-8.2	6.1	5.2
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	227.580	228.316	238.894	-7.9	5.0	4.6
Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)	228.358	230.072	240.606	-6.5	5.4	4.6
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	768.182	788.183	802.689	2.5	4.5	1.8
Medical care	507.010	506.219	509.547	2.3	0.5	0.7
Recreation(6)	107.758	105.869	102.102	-5.2	-5.2	-3.6
Education and communication(6)	151.268	151.838	149.515	0.3	-1.2	-1.5
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,963.776	1,963.558	1,910.404	-2.6	-2.7	-2.7
Other goods and services	452.822	454.213	462.877	2.9	2.2	1.9
Commodity and service group
All items	280.102	279.560	280.178	0.9	0.0	0.2
Commodities	184.780	184.677	186.017	0.8	0.7	0.7
Commodities less food & beverages	135.708	135.296	136.865	-2.1	0.9	1.2
Nondurables less food & beverages	180.616	178.861	184.195	-4.0	2.0	3.0
Durables	91.581	92.245	90.772	1.2	-0.9	-1.6
Services	365.011	364.052	363.933	0.9	-0.3	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	270.256	269.726	270.245	0.8	0.0	0.2
All items less shelter	238.544	237.923	238.459	0.7	0.0	0.2
Commodities less food	141.120	140.691	142.180	-1.3	0.8	1.1
Nondurables	232.028	231.437	234.499	0.7	1.1	1.3
Nondurables less food	188.518	186.814	191.729	-2.7	1.7	2.6
Services less rent of shelter(3)	361.281	359.424	357.969	0.6	-0.9	-0.4
Services less medical care services	351.674	350.789	350.343	0.7	-0.4	-0.1
Energy	266.204	267.915	276.433	-2.4	3.8	3.2
All items less energy	283.257	282.559	282.653	1.1	-0.2	0.0
All items less food and energy	283.873	282.907	282.846	0.6	-0.4	0.0
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base. (2) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (3) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (6) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
- Data not available NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.