Updating the California Necessities Index

Aug 14, 2025 - We consider the most common price indices specific to California: the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CA CPI ‑U) and the California Consumer Price Index for Wage and Clerical Workers (CA CPI ‑W).
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5065

Updating the California Necessities Index [Publication Details]

Aug 14, 2025 - Updating the California Necessities Index [Publication Details] Translate Our Website This Google ™ translation feature provided on the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) website is for informational purposes only.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/5065

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - The estimates in the first section come from the 2023 Occupational Employment and Wage Survey (OEWS), which collected information about employment and wages in May 2022 and used an employment cost index to update wage estimates to the first quarter of 2023.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/1

The 2023-24 Budget: Considering Inflation's Effects on State Programs

Nov 16, 2022 - The California Necessities Index—a measure of price inflation for basic goods such as food and clothing that is relevant for some human services programs—grew by 6.6 percent in 2021, compared to an average of 3.6 percent over the previous five years.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4647

California’s Low-Wage Workers and Minimum Wage

Mar 11, 2024 - The publicly posted statistics incorporate assumptions that (1)  each worker ’s wage was equal to the average value within the bin (which in turn comes from another data source) and (2)  all wages recently grew at the same rate as an aggregate employment cost index.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4878/4

The 2022-23 Budget: Fuel Tax Rates

Feb 11, 2022 - Each adjustment reflects a 12 ‑month change in the California Consumer Price Index (CA CPI) —a broad measure of the prices California households pay for goods and services. For  example, the rate adjustment scheduled for July  1,  2022 will reflect the 12 ‑month change in the CA  CPI from November 1, 2020 to November 1, 2021.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4528

Fixing Unemployment Insurance

Dec 2, 2024 - Benefits Do Not Keep Up With Inflation or Hit Wage Replacement Target California ’s Benefits Are Not Indexed to Inflation. UI benefits increase with income, but the maximum amount a worker can receive is $450 per week —a level set in legislation passed in 2001.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4943