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News Release Information

23-42-SAN
Thursday, January 12, 2023

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

Consumer Price Index, Anchorage area — December 2022

Area prices were down 1.7 percent over the past two months, up 5.4 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Anchorage area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), declined 1.7 percent for the two months ending in December 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the December decrease was influenced by lower prices for 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 advanced 5.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) Food prices advanced 5.1 percent. Energy prices advanced 3.5 percent, largely the result of an increase in the price of gasoline. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.6 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.2 percent for the two months ending in December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home increased 0.4 percent, with higher prices in three of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home declined 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices advanced 5.1 percent. Prices for food at home advanced 4.7 percent since a year ago, with higher prices in five of the six grocery categories. Prices for food away from home increased 6.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index decreased 15.3 percent for the two months ending in December. The decrease was mainly due to lower prices for gasoline (-25.1 percent). Prices for electricity and natural gas were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices advanced 3.5 percent over the year, largely due to higher prices for gasoline (5.5 percent). Prices paid for natural gas service increased 2.6 percent, but prices for electricity decreased 2.8 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy decreased 0.6 percent in the latest two-month period. Lower prices for used cars and trucks (-5.1 percent), other goods and services (-3.1 percent), and education and communication (-2.6 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.9 percent), medical care (0.5 percent), and recreation (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (10.1 percent), recreation (5.1 percent), and new vehicles (4.5 percent). Partly offsetting the increases were price decreases in used cars and trucks (-9.6 percent), education and communication (-2.6 percent), and household furnishings and operations (-1.0 percent).

Table A. Urban Alaska CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month 2019 2020 2021 2022
2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

0.3 2.5 0.0 -0.3 1.0 1.3 1.1 7.4

April

0.6 2.7 -1.6 -2.5 1.8 4.8 1.9 7.5

June

2.5 2.5 1.0 -3.8 2.5 6.2 7.1 12.4

August

-1.6 0.7 0.8 -1.5 0.3 5.7 -4.0 7.6

October

-1.2 -0.3 0.6 0.3 1.2 6.3 1.1 7.6

December

-0.5 0.0 -0.5 0.3 0.4 7.2 -1.7 5.4

The February 2023 Consumer Price Index for the Anchorage area is scheduled to be released on March 14, 2023.


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 Urban Alaska area covered in this release consists of Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the State of Alaska.

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

Urban Alaska (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

Indexes Percent change from-
Historical
data
Oct.
2022
Nov.
2022
Dec.
2022
Dec.
2021
Oct.
2022
Nov.
2022

Expenditure category

All items

261.093 - 256.634 5.4 -1.7 -

All items (1967=100)

696.892 - 684.991 - - -

Food and beverages

256.280 - 256.564 4.9 0.1 -

Food

266.239 - 266.902 5.1 0.2 -

Food at home

262.148 258.882 263.263 4.7 0.4 1.7

Cereals and bakery products

271.175 - 274.004 5.8 1.0 -

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

244.159 - 242.119 -7.0 -0.8 -

Dairy and related products

255.561 - 254.922 13.3 -0.3 -

Fruits and vegetables

399.935 - 405.788 9.1 1.5 -

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

189.101 - 184.395 13.4 -2.5 -

Other food at home

217.435 - 221.476 5.6 1.9 -

Food away from home

270.227 - 269.937 6.1 -0.1 -

Alcoholic beverages

162.679 - 158.446 0.5 -2.6 -

Housing

228.557 - 229.702 7.6 0.5 -

Shelter

231.883 231.513 233.869 10.1 0.9 1.0

Rent of primary residence(2)

221.081 222.717 223.983 8.2 1.3 0.6

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

234.276 235.210 236.452 10.7 0.9 0.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

234.276 235.210 236.452 10.7 0.9 0.5

Fuels and utilities

351.676 - 350.801 1.0 -0.2 -

Household energy

354.708 354.546 353.572 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3

Energy services

392.574 392.574 392.574 -0.2 0.0 0.0

Electricity

327.825 327.825 327.825 -2.8 0.0 0.0

Utility (piped) gas service

478.719 478.719 478.719 2.6 0.0 0.0

Household furnishings and operations

144.348 - 142.916 -1.0 -1.0 -

Apparel

152.303 - 148.910 -0.2 -2.2 -

Transportation

302.776 - 276.390 4.5 -8.7 -

Private transportation

308.937 - 288.099 4.8 -6.7 -

New and used motor vehicles(3)

134.355 - 133.315 1.1 -0.8 -

New vehicles(1)

275.444 - 276.132 4.5 0.2 -

Used cars and trucks(1)

373.635 - 354.418 -9.6 -5.1 -

Motor fuel

432.070 377.249 326.591 6.7 -24.4 -13.4

Gasoline (all types)

433.795 376.724 324.804 5.5 -25.1 -13.8

Gasoline, unleaded regular(4)

419.339 363.208 312.289 5.3 -25.5 -14.0

Gasoline, unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

417.231 363.738 315.039 6.7 -24.5 -13.4

Gasoline, unleaded premium(4)

436.326 383.182 334.225 6.2 -23.4 -12.8

Medical care

702.913 - 706.705 - 0.5 -

Recreation(3)

139.474 - 139.897 5.1 0.3 -

Education and communication(3)

116.024 - 113.024 -2.6 -2.6 -

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

774.522 - 774.522 1.3 0.0 -

Other goods and services

416.968 - 404.242 3.6 -3.1 -

Commodity and service group

All items

261.093 - 256.634 5.4 -1.7 -

Commodities

220.388 - 211.768 2.2 -3.9 -

Commodities less food & beverages

201.633 - 188.938 0.6 -6.3 -

Nondurables less food & beverages

267.980 - 237.885 2.7 -11.2 -

Durables

149.236 - 147.088 -1.2 -1.4 -

Services

295.364 - 294.803 7.6 -0.2 -

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

245.704 - 241.061 5.3 -1.9 -

All items less shelter

273.691 - 265.862 3.3 -2.9 -

Commodities less food

200.224 - 187.824 0.6 -6.2 -

Nondurables

261.775 - 248.542 3.9 -5.1 -

Nondurables less food

259.418 - 231.510 2.5 -10.8 -

Services less rent of shelter(2)

398.946 - 393.716 4.8 -1.3 -

Services less medical care services

270.774 - 270.278 7.8 -0.2 -

Energy

400.343 368.601 338.919 3.5 -15.3 -8.1

All items less energy

253.330 - 252.189 5.5 -0.5 -

All items less food and energy

251.452 - 249.989 5.6 -0.6 -

Footnotes
(1) Indexes on a December 1978=100 base.
(2) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base.
(3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

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

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, January 12, 2023