The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South edged up 0.2 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent over the pricing period. The energy index decreased 1.0 percent in March, while the food index inched down 0.1 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U was up 2.3 percent for the 12 months ending March. The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.1 percent over the past year, while the energy index advanced 6.2 percent and the food index rose 1.0 percent. (See chart 1.)

Food

The food index inched down 0.1 percent in March. The index for food at home edged down 0.2 percent, led by a 2.3 percent decrease in the fruits and vegetables index. The index for food away from home was unchanged over the month.

Over the last 12 months, the food index rose 1.0 percent, reflecting increases in the indexes for food away from home (2.1 percent) and food at home (0.2 percent).

Energy

The energy index decreased 1.0 percent in March, led by a 1.1-percent decrease in the motor fuel index. The indexes for electricity and utility (piped) gas service were also down, declining 0.9 and 1.0 percent, respectively.

From March 2017—March 2018, the energy index advanced 6.2 percent, fueled by a 11.1-percent increase in the motor fuel index. The electricity index rose 1.1 percent and the index for utility (piped) gas service increased 3.1 percent over the last year.

All items less food and energy

In March 2018, the all items less food and energy index increased 0.4 percent, reflecting increases in the indexes for apparel (4.5 percent), shelter (0.4 percent), and medical care (0.2 percent). The index for education and communication edged down 0.3 percent over the month.

Since March 2017, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent. The shelter index contributed to the increase, up 3.3 percent over the year.

Table A. South region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2014		2015		2016		2017		2018
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.3	1.7	-0.7	-0.4	0.0	1.2	0.5	2.6	0.5	1.8
February	0.4	1.2	0.5	-0.3	0.1	0.7	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1
March	0.6	1.5	0.6	-0.3	0.6	0.7	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3
April	0.5	2.3	0.3	-0.6	0.4	0.9	0.2	2.0
May	0.2	2.4	0.4	-0.4	0.4	0.9	0.0	1.7
June	0.2	2.3	0.5	-0.1	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.5
July	-0.1	2.0	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	0.7	-0.2	1.6
August	-0.2	1.7	-0.2	-0.2	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.9
September	0.1	1.7	-0.2	-0.4	0.2	1.4	0.7	2.4
October	-0.3	1.6	0.0	-0.1	0.1	1.5	-0.2	2.0
November	-0.6	1.3	-0.2	0.3	-0.1	1.6	-0.1	2.1
December	-0.6	0.6	-0.4	0.5	0.1	2.0	-0.1	1.8

The Consumer Price Index for April 2018 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, May 10, 2018.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure 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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 percent of the total 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 5,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 South region is comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

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
South (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jan. 2018	Feb. 2018	Mar. 2018	Mar. 2017	Jan. 2018	Feb. 2018
Expenditure category
All Items	239.772	241.123	241.595	2.3	0.8	0.2
All items (December 1977=100)	388.943	391.135	391.900	-	-	-
Food and beverages	249.815	249.475	249.324	1.0	-0.2	-0.1
Food	251.127	250.710	250.519	1.0	-0.2	-0.1
Food at home	238.422	237.191	236.789	0.2	-0.7	-0.2
Cereal and bakery products	279.047	276.276	275.995	-	-1.1	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	241.320	241.201	243.739	-	1.0	1.1
Dairy and related products	219.988	218.805	218.319	-	-0.8	-0.2
Fruits and vegetables	289.347	284.805	278.388	-	-3.8	-2.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	166.650	165.709	166.521	-	-0.1	0.5
Other food at home	209.633	209.763	209.307	-	-0.2	-0.2
Food away from home	272.970	273.685	273.787	2.1	0.3	0.0
Alcoholic beverages	231.076	231.864	232.296	1.1	0.5	0.2
Housing	235.071	235.746	236.083	2.8	0.4	0.1
Shelter	270.413	270.759	271.742	3.3	0.5	0.4
Rent of primary residence(1)	281.731	282.086	282.695	3.8	0.3	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	272.487	272.713	273.398	3.2	0.3	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	272.479	272.703	273.392	3.2	0.3	0.3
Fuels and utilities	234.824	236.851	235.111	1.8	0.1	-0.7
Household energy	189.383	191.430	189.594	1.6	0.1	-1.0
Energy services(1)	189.240	191.340	189.503	1.4	0.1	-1.0
Electricity(1)	186.609	188.321	186.537	1.1	0.0	-0.9
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	191.208	195.804	193.767	3.1	1.3	-1.0
Household furnishings and operations	121.071	121.962	121.505	-0.2	0.4	-0.4
Apparel	128.360	134.086	140.171	2.5	9.2	4.5
Transportation	206.288	208.883	208.913	4.0	1.3	0.0
Private transportation	205.340	207.748	207.547	4.3	1.1	-0.1
New and used motor vehicles(3)	101.344	101.619	102.107	-0.6	0.8	0.5
New vehicles	153.484	153.431	153.371	-1.1	-0.1	0.0
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	104.496	104.446	104.409	-1.1	-0.1	0.0
New cars(4)	152.796	152.819	152.811	-1.7	0.0	0.0
Used cars and trucks	137.686	138.808	140.919	0.6	2.3	1.5
Motor fuel	214.278	218.976	216.548	11.1	1.1	-1.1
Gasoline (all types)	213.005	217.679	215.297	11.1	1.1	-1.1
Unleaded regular(4)	207.758	212.431	209.963	11.1	1.1	-1.2
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	236.213	240.797	238.916	10.8	1.1	-0.8
Unleaded premium(4)	234.324	238.486	237.098	10.3	1.2	-0.6
Motor vehicle insurance(6)	919.295	944.961	941.693	-	2.4	-0.3
Medical care	461.691	464.905	465.888	1.8	0.9	0.2
Medical care commodities	369.046	369.817	370.807	1.2	0.5	0.3
Medical care services	492.724	496.783	497.762	1.9	1.0	0.2
Professional services	357.919	362.951	366.287	-0.3	2.3	0.9
Recreation(3)	116.802	118.011	118.209	0.5	1.2	0.2
Education and communication(3)	132.601	132.438	132.027	-0.2	-0.4	-0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(6)	1,301.206	1,303.153	1,295.109	-	-0.5	-0.6
Other goods and services	425.261	424.495	424.111	1.5	-0.3	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	239.772	241.123	241.595	2.3	0.8	0.2
Commodities	182.220	183.375	183.844	1.4	0.9	0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	150.214	151.831	152.491	1.5	1.5	0.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	196.795	200.123	201.351	3.9	2.3	0.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	238.680	240.880	239.640	4.4	0.4	-0.5
Durables	107.269	107.666	107.910	-1.3	0.6	0.2
Services	297.560	299.100	299.569	2.8	0.7	0.2
Rent of shelter(2)	277.642	278.005	279.027	3.3	0.5	0.4
Transportation services	350.383	357.151	357.797	5.1	2.1	0.2
Other services	338.585	339.548	339.283	1.0	0.2	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	227.671	228.924	229.368	2.4	0.7	0.2
All items less food	237.785	239.397	239.966	2.5	0.9	0.2
All items less shelter	228.784	230.519	230.799	1.8	0.9	0.1
Commodities less food	152.706	154.313	154.971	1.5	1.5	0.4
Nondurables	221.959	223.612	224.210	2.4	1.0	0.3
Nondurables less food	198.525	201.721	202.908	3.7	2.2	0.6
Nondurables less food and apparel	236.934	239.013	237.909	4.1	0.4	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter(2)	331.864	334.884	334.698	2.3	0.9	-0.1
Services less medical care services	279.967	281.300	281.726	2.9	0.6	0.2
Energy	196.789	200.074	197.996	6.2	0.6	-1.0
All items less energy	245.370	246.506	247.268	2.0	0.8	0.3
All items less food and energy	244.776	246.177	247.101	2.1	0.9	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities	145.423	146.619	147.722	-0.3	1.6	0.8
Energy commodities	218.279	222.963	220.499	11.1	1.0	-1.1
Services less energy services	308.995	310.471	311.193	2.9	0.7	0.2
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (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. (6) Indexes on a December 1977=100 base.
- Data not available. Regions defined as the four Census regions. South includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.