INLAND EMPIRE, CA — Due mainly to energy prices, inflation throughout the Riverside metropolitan area registered a 3.2% increase over the last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday.
The agency's latest report, based on metrics for western Riverside County and the cities of Ontario and San Bernardino, indicated that the Inland Empire's Consumer Price Index was up in most categories over the previous 12 months.
BLS officials said Wednesday that the principal driver behind the rise was the energy component, which reflected a 17.6% spike from July 2025 to July 2026. Retail gasoline prices in the region weighed most on the metric, jumping 23.2% during the year-over-year period.
Food costs were a significant contributor to inflationary pressures too, going up 3.1% in the last 12 months, figures showed. Shelter costs -- or property rents -- also trended higher, showing a 2.8% rise.
One of the few metrics indicating a drop was listed as "education and communication," down 6.5% in the year ending July 31.
The bimonthly report said that in June and July 2026, a one-tenth of a percentage point drop was actually recorded in the regional CPI, owing mostly to a 7.9% decline in retail gas costs during that time. The component designated general "goods and services" additionally slid 3.1% in the two- month period, along with a 1.4% contraction in apparel costs.
Most everything else was higher in the June-July time frame, according to data.
Nationwide, the overall CPI registered a .1% increase for the month of July. The impetus was shelter costs, which accounted for the largest upward move in the index. For the one-year period ending July 31, the national CPI was up 3.4%, according to the BLS.
The current rate of inflation reflects the price trajectory impacting most sectors of the economy.
Energy price shocks that began at the end of February are directly connected to commodities markets and oil trading, which turned bullish immediately after the joint U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran, beginning with a missile attack on a girls' school, where almost 200 Iranians were killed. The nation's supreme leader and multiple members of his family were also assassinated. Hostilities abated amid peace overtures in April-June but started up again last month.
Iran declared a quasi closure of the Strait of Hormuz, where tankers carrying nearly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies must pass. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has characterized the narrow Persian Gulf sea lane as a "chokepoint."
Accelerating consumer price hikes have also been blamed by some economists on loose monetary policy and excessive federal spending, decaying the dollar's purchasing power.
The national debt is now $39.82 trillion, according to the congressional Joint Economic Committee's "Debt Dashboard." Some projections indicate the debt load will almost double in 10 years or less.
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