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News Release Information

21-1484-SAN
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

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

Consumer Price Index, Riverside Area – July 2021

Area prices were up 1.3 percent over the past two months, up 6.5 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Riverside area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), advanced 1.3 percent for the two months ending in July 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the July increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter and new and used motor vehicles. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 6.5 percent. Food prices increased 3.9 percent. Energy prices jumped 26.9 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.9 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices rose 1.6 percent for the two months ending in July. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 2.4 percent led by higher prices for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (6.9 percent). Prices for food away from home increased 0.6 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 3.9 percent. Food at home prices, up 4.5 percent, increased in all sub-categories, led by meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (9.7 percent). Since a year ago, prices for food away from home increased 3.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.5 percent for the two months ending in July. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for gasoline (4.4 percent). Prices for natural gas service rose 4.3 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 4.6 percent for the same period.

Energy prices jumped 26.9 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (37.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service jumped 14.2 percent, and prices for electricity rose 13.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for new and used motor vehicles (5.4 percent), education and communication (1.9 percent), and shelter (1.1 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for apparel (-2.5 percent) and recreation (-1.2 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 4.9 percent. Components contributing to the increase included new and used motor vehicles (17.1 percent), household furnishings and operations (6.1 percent), and shelter (3.3 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in alcoholic beverages (-0.6 percent).

The September 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Riverside area is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on July 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in July 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 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA metropolitan area includes Riverside and San Bernardino 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

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

IndexesPercent change from-
May
2021
Jun.
2021
Jul.
2021
Jul.
2020
May
2021
Jun.
2021

Expenditure category

All items

113.222-114.6826.51.3-

Food and beverages

113.154-114.8763.71.5-

Food

113.570-115.3513.91.6-

Food at home

111.509112.960114.1834.52.41.1

Cereals and bakery products

115.684-119.8753.23.6-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

110.865-118.4839.76.9-

Dairy and related products

106.629-108.3334.71.6-

Fruits and vegetables

114.267-114.2042.6-0.1-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

114.824-115.0902.70.2-

Other food at home

108.560-109.1892.50.6-

Food away from home

115.439-116.1633.20.6-

Alcoholic beverages

105.978-106.547-0.60.5-

Housing

114.461-115.2044.30.6-

Shelter

113.012113.486114.2253.31.10.7

Rent of primary residence

113.060113.805114.5342.91.30.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences

113.188113.564114.0703.00.80.4

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence

113.188113.564114.0703.00.80.4

Fuels and utilities

128.823-126.87310.1-1.5-

Household energy

133.081128.828129.34013.3-2.80.4

Energy services

133.906129.703130.16013.8-2.80.4

Electricity

131.498125.525125.38713.6-4.6-0.1

Utility (piped) gas service

142.813146.051148.99214.24.32.0

Household furnishings and operations

109.231-109.0196.1-0.2-

Apparel

101.717-99.1787.0-2.5-

Transportation

118.258-123.23422.44.2-

Private transportation

119.617-125.09022.54.6-

New and used motor vehicles

108.655-114.51317.15.4-

New vehicles

106.155-109.4505.83.1-

Used cars and trucks

130.118-144.26640.610.9-

Motor fuel

133.260136.435139.19737.44.52.0

Gasoline (all types)

133.638136.783139.54437.54.42.0

Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)

134.094137.270140.05138.24.42.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)

134.324137.400140.17736.64.42.0

Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)

131.076134.098136.76034.44.32.0

Motor vehicle insurance

124.119-124.1196.70.0-

Medical care

111.334-111.1710.7-0.1-

Recreation

105.388-104.1580.9-1.2-

Education and communication

107.417-109.4392.61.9-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care

118.539-119.3050.70.6-

Other goods and services

111.350-114.5636.32.9-

Commodity and service group

All items

113.222-114.6826.51.3-

Commodities

112.504-115.0099.92.2-

Commodities less food & beverages

112.081-115.04513.92.6-

Nondurables less food & beverages

113.273-115.72217.52.2-

Durables

110.250-113.74810.23.2-

Services

113.743-114.5944.70.7-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

113.353-114.9257.01.4-

All items less shelter

113.441-115.0488.51.4-

Commodities less food

111.869-114.76513.52.6-

Nondurables

113.210-115.2729.81.8-

Nondurables less food

112.844-115.19216.52.1-

Services less rent of shelter

114.718-115.0556.50.3-

Services less medical care services

113.663-114.5995.00.8-

Energy

133.851133.991135.84226.91.51.4

All items less energy

111.402-112.8164.81.3-

All items less food and energy

111.085-112.4404.91.2-

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, August 11, 2021