Prices in the Phoenix area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), increased 0.8 percent for the two months ending in August 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the August increase was influenced by higher prices for shelter, food, and medical care. (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 13.0 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 14.1 percent. Energy prices rose 19.2 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy rose 12.3 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 3.6 percent for the two months ending in August. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 4.4 percent, with increases in five of the six subcategories. Prices for food away from home advanced 2.5 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 14.1 percent. Prices for food at home rose 15.7 percent since a year ago, with price increases above 12.0 percent in all six subcategories. Prices for food away from home advanced 12.0 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 15.9 percent for the two months ending in August. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-25.2 percent). Prices for electricity fell 2.6 percent, and prices for natural gas service decreased 0.8 percent for the same period.

Energy prices rose 19.2 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (32.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 12.4 percent, and prices for electricity increased 2.6 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.1 percent in the latest two-month period. Higher prices for medical care (4.6 percent) and shelter (3.5 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for household furnishings and operations (-1.4 percent) and recreation (-0.5 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 12.3 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (19.0 percent) and medical care (8.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in education and communication (-1.4 percent).

The October 2022 Consumer Price Index for the Phoenix area is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2022.

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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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	Indexes				Percent change from-
	Historical data	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Aug. 2022	Aug. 2021	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022
Expenditure category
All items		172.643	-	173.952	13.0	0.8	-
Food and beverages		172.774	-	178.412	13.4	3.3	-
Food		174.987	-	181.238	14.1	3.6	-
Food at home		172.469	176.252	180.037	15.7	4.4	2.1
Cereals and bakery products		209.390	-	223.355	14.0	6.7	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs		221.334	-	226.899	17.9	2.5	-
Dairy and related products		148.459	-	145.372	15.0	-2.1	-
Fruits and vegetables		144.768	-	148.165	12.8	2.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials		127.743	-	138.365	13.8	8.3	-
Other food at home		168.709	-	180.153	18.4	6.8	-
Food away from home		180.736	-	185.337	12.0	2.5	-
Alcoholic beverages		149.399	-	146.949	2.7	-1.6	-
Housing		186.184	-	190.957	17.1	2.6	-
Shelter		197.028	200.365	203.953	19.0	3.5	1.8
Rent of primary residence		205.262	211.105	213.405	21.4	4.0	1.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences		193.451	196.910	199.437	17.3	3.1	1.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence		193.451	196.910	199.437	17.3	3.1	1.3
Fuels and utilities		196.999	-	193.903	6.0	-1.6	-
Household energy		199.010	194.536	193.939	3.5	-2.5	-0.3
Energy services		198.083	193.931	193.369	3.4	-2.4	-0.3
Electricity		209.870	205.113	204.413	2.6	-2.6	-0.3
Utility (piped) gas service		140.308	139.117	139.233	12.4	-0.8	0.1
Household furnishings and operations		116.229	-	114.572	13.7	-1.4	-
Apparel		144.911	-	148.346	8.1	2.4	-
Transportation		169.452	-	158.804	13.0	-6.3	-
Private transportation		174.580	-	163.577	12.2	-6.3	-
New and used motor vehicles		117.878	-	117.950	-	0.1	-
New vehicles		111.170	-	112.687	-	1.4	-
Used cars and trucks		130.152	-	129.720	8.4	-0.3	-
Motor fuel		464.074	416.531	349.440	33.5	-24.7	-16.1
Gasoline (all types)		464.212	415.175	347.324	32.5	-25.2	-16.3
Gasoline, unleaded regular(1)		471.916	420.499	350.060	33.3	-25.8	-16.8
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(1)		472.668	427.466	362.240	31.7	-23.4	-15.3
Gasoline, unleaded premium(1)		440.409	399.942	341.415	29.4	-22.5	-14.6
Medical care		208.131	-	217.714	8.7	4.6	-
Recreation		123.173	-	122.577	1.9	-0.5	-
Education and communication		117.900	-	117.701	-1.4	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care		-	-	221.088	-	-	-
Other goods and services		166.242	-	167.839	10.6	1.0	-
Commodity and service group
All items		172.643	-	173.952	13.0	0.8	-
Commodities		151.649	-	148.566	12.5	-2.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages		139.754	-	133.168	11.9	-4.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages		200.300	-	180.194	14.9	-10.0	-
Durables		93.902	-	94.276	9.1	0.4	-
Services		186.921	-	191.523	13.3	2.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care		170.828	-	171.592	13.4	0.4	-
All items less shelter		160.343	-	158.900	9.6	-0.9	-
Commodities less food		140.408	-	133.917	11.6	-4.6	-
Nondurables		185.862	-	179.766	14.2	-3.3	-
Nondurables less food		196.509	-	177.734	14.1	-9.6	-
Services less rent of shelter		173.715	-	175.199	5.8	0.9	-
Services less medical care services		185.026	-	188.955	13.8	2.1	-
Energy		317.273	294.881	266.916	19.2	-15.9	-9.5
All items less energy		165.036	-	168.828	12.5	2.3	-
All items less food and energy		163.404	-	166.844	12.3	2.1	-
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.