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News Release Information

21-2001-SAN
Wednesday, November 10, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, Phoenix area — October 2021

Area prices were up 2.2 percent over the past two months, up 7.1 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 2.2 percent for the two months ending in October 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the October increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and gasoline. (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 7.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices rose 3.8 percent. Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.4 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Phoenix, February 2019-October 2021
Food

Food prices increased 2.1 percent for the two months ending in October. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 2.1 percent, influenced by nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (4.9 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 2.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices rose 3.8 percent. Prices for food at home increased 5.3 percent since a year ago, influenced by higher prices for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (10.9 percent) and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (10.4 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 2.3 percent for the year.

Energy

The energy index rose 3.7 percent for the two months ending in October. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (9.1 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 1.6 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 2.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 23.3 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (46.7 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 31.3 percent, and prices for electricity rose 1.0 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for recreation (2.8 percent) and shelter (2.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for used cars and trucks (-1.5 percent) and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 6.4 percent. Components contributing to the increase included used cars and trucks (25.4 percent), shelter (8.6 percent), and recreation (6.4 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in alcoholic beverages (-4.8 percent) and education and communication (-0.1 percent).

Table A. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month201920202021
2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month

February

-0.32.10.64.41.01.0

April

1.42.3-1.41.52.44.9

June

1.02.21.52.01.95.4

August

0.53.00.41.80.25.1

October

1.43.80.30.72.27.1

December

-0.63.4-0.80.5

The December 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on January 12, 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 October 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. Additional information is available at https://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/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 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metropolitan area covered in this release consists of Maricopa and Pinal Counties in the State of Arizona.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments 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

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (December 2001=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Historical
data
Aug.
2021
Sep.
2021
Oct.
2021
Oct.
2020
Aug.
2021
Sep.
2021

Expenditure category

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0
153.931-157.2547.12.2-

Food and beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF
157.330-160.4193.22.0-

Food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF1
158.835-162.2053.82.1-

Food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF11
155.553157.006158.8645.32.11.2

Cereals and bakery products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF111
195.859-193.1793.3-1.4-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF112
192.474-199.67010.43.7-

Dairy and related products

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEFJ
126.369-126.054-0.4-0.2-

Fruits and vegetables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF113
131.392-136.4676.53.9-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF114
121.536-127.50610.94.9-

Other food at home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF115
152.149-154.2562.21.4-

Food away from home

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEFV
165.461-168.9622.32.1-

Alcoholic beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAF116
143.045-142.392-4.8-0.5-

Housing

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAH
163.057-166.7297.32.3-

Shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAH1
171.444173.539176.1218.62.71.5

Rent of primary residence

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHA
175.741179.052181.5415.03.31.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHC
169.972172.880175.3879.23.21.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHC01
169.972172.880175.3879.23.21.5

Fuels and utilities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAH2
182.945-180.0833.4-1.6-

Household energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAH21
187.370182.043183.3333.4-2.20.7

Energy services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHF
187.019181.678182.8553.3-2.20.6

Electricity

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHF01
199.268192.838194.0551.0-2.60.6

Utility (piped) gas service

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEHF02
123.889124.816125.82231.31.60.8

Household furnishings and operations

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAH3
100.784-103.3462.42.5-

Apparel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAA
137.272-139.0426.71.3-

Transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAT
140.580-145.02517.23.2-

Private transportation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAT1
145.799-150.34819.23.1-

New and used motor vehicles

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETA
------

New vehicles

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETA01
------

Used cars and trucks

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETA02
119.706-117.92825.4-1.5-

Motor fuel

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETB
261.722264.053285.58546.89.18.2

Gasoline (all types)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETB01
262.176264.541286.06546.79.18.1

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASS47014
262.589265.056287.67548.49.68.5

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASS47015
275.133277.502297.82641.38.27.3

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASS47016
263.807265.815283.62339.47.56.7

Motor vehicle insurance

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASETE
161.037-161.0373.00.0-

Medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAM
200.276-----

Recreation

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAR
120.284-123.6356.42.8-

Education and communication

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAE
119.427-119.285-0.1-0.1-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASEEB
------

Other goods and services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAG
151.798-157.102-3.5-

Commodity and service group

All items

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0
153.931-157.2547.12.2-

Commodities

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAC
132.112-135.5098.52.6-

Commodities less food & beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASACL11
118.959-122.41011.52.9-

Nondurables less food & beverages

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASANL11
156.840-162.15013.33.4-

Durables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAD
86.408-88.4529.72.4-

Services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAS
168.995-172.2346.31.9-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0L5
151.252-154.7057.82.3-

All items less shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0L2
144.949-147.6406.31.9-

Commodities less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASACL1
119.948-123.29710.92.8-

Nondurables

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASAN
157.383-161.5748.02.7-

Nondurables less food

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASANL1
155.722-160.63712.03.2-

Services less rent of shelter

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASASL2RS
165.607-167.1103.50.9-

Services less medical care services

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASASL5
165.969-169.2847.02.0-

Energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0E
223.992221.948232.22123.33.74.6

All items less energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0LE
150.005-153.0706.02.0-

All items less food and energy

Go to web page with historical data for series CUURS48ASA0L1E
148.552-151.5706.42.0-

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, November 10, 2021