The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.3 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in August. The energy index and the food index also increased over the month, up 0.6 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U for the South advanced 5.6 percent for the 12 months ending in August, after increasing 5.8-percent over the 12-month period ending in July. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.5 percent over the past year, while the energy index rose 24.5 percent. The food index rose 3.3 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.3 percent in August, led by a 0.4-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index rose marginally in August, up 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 3.3 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting increases in the food away from home (4.1 percent) and food at home (2.6 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.6 percent in August, led by a 1.1-percent increase in the electricity index. The utility (piped) gas service index also increased in August, up 1.6 percent. The index for gasoline was unchanged over the month.

The energy index increased 24.5 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting a 44.7-percent rise in the gasoline index. The electricity and utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the year, up 5.7 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in August, led by a 0.3 percent increase in the shelter index. Among the other notable indexes to increase over the month include education and communication (0.9 percent), recreation (0.8 percent), and apparel (1.4 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index declined 0.5 percent in August, reflecting a 1.6-percent decrease in the used cars and trucks index.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.5 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 17.3 percent over the past 12 months—led by a 31.2-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index. Shelter (3.3 percent) was also among the indexes to increase over the past 12 months.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U advanced 0.3 percent in the South Atlantic and West South Central divisions in August. The all items index in the East South Central division declined 0.1 percent over the past month.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 6.4 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index rose 5.7 percent in the West South Central division and 5.4 percent in the South Atlantic division.

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

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	2.6	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3	0.5	1.6
February	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0
March	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9
April	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4
May	0.0	1.7	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6
June	0.2	1.5	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.9	5.8
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8
August	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6
September	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3
October	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3
November	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2
December	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4

The Consumer Price Index for September 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 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-
	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Aug. 2020	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	261.668	263.013	263.728	5.6	0.8	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	424.463	426.643	427.803	-	-	-
Food and beverages	270.730	272.177	272.989	3.2	0.8	0.3
Food	272.556	274.055	274.788	3.3	0.8	0.3
Food at home	255.234	256.411	256.738	2.6	0.6	0.1
Cereal and bakery products	294.672	296.264	294.162	1.0	-0.2	-0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	277.122	281.129	282.373	8.4	1.9	0.4
Dairy and related products	228.537	230.237	228.888	-1.2	0.2	-0.6
Fruits and vegetables	301.215	299.131	298.343	3.9	-1.0	-0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	175.112	175.028	176.457	-1.1	0.8	0.8
Other food at home	220.019	220.840	221.798	0.4	0.8	0.4
Food away from home	301.136	303.120	304.448	4.1	1.1	0.4
Alcoholic beverages	245.152	245.889	247.761	2.9	1.1	0.8
Housing	257.154	258.418	259.417	3.7	0.9	0.4
Shelter	297.405	298.781	299.571	3.3	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence	311.589	312.163	313.508	2.5	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	299.448	300.139	301.150	2.9	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	299.450	300.143	301.156	2.9	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	250.690	253.624	256.076	6.4	2.1	1.0
Household energy	200.682	203.640	206.081	7.7	2.7	1.2
Energy services	200.603	203.628	206.066	7.4	2.7	1.2
Electricity	196.970	199.513	201.768	5.7	2.4	1.1
Utility (piped) gas service	208.196	214.169	217.620	19.7	4.5	1.6
Household furnishings and operations	131.199	131.194	132.010	3.5	0.6	0.6
Apparel	128.858	127.285	129.051	4.7	0.1	1.4
Transportation	237.569	239.749	238.554	18.4	0.4	-0.5
Private transportation	238.190	240.933	240.592	18.8	1.0	-0.1
New and used motor vehicles(2)	121.568	123.140	122.525	17.3	0.8	-0.5
New vehicles	160.462	162.394	163.597	7.3	2.0	0.7
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	109.251	110.583	111.419	7.3	2.0	0.8
New cars(3)	158.225	160.301	162.026	6.6	2.4	1.1
Used cars and trucks	200.075	201.665	198.439	31.2	-0.8	-1.6
Motor fuel	251.279	256.190	256.207	44.5	2.0	0.0
Gasoline (all types)	250.082	255.015	255.033	44.7	2.0	0.0
Unleaded regular(3)	244.125	249.032	248.993	46.0	2.0	0.0
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	279.156	284.242	284.729	39.5	2.0	0.2
Unleaded premium(3)	273.143	277.812	278.241	35.1	1.9	0.2
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	954.793	949.735	954.379	2.7	0.0	0.5
Medical care	495.772	497.884	498.642	1.3	0.6	0.2
Medical care commodities	348.692	349.148	348.857	-0.5	0.0	-0.1
Medical care services	545.558	548.228	549.339	1.7	0.7	0.2
Professional services	384.060	385.121	386.051	3.1	0.5	0.2
Recreation(2)	124.239	124.913	125.861	3.3	1.3	0.8
Education and communication(2)	137.344	137.472	138.733	2.1	1.0	0.9
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,371.709	1,375.613	1,387.751	1.2	1.2	0.9
Other goods and services	452.648	456.627	458.640	3.4	1.3	0.4
Commodity and service group
All Items	261.668	263.013	263.728	5.6	0.8	0.3
Commodities	199.052	200.140	200.636	9.1	0.8	0.2
Commodities less food and beverages	164.935	165.849	166.210	12.9	0.8	0.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	207.436	208.229	208.929	12.9	0.7	0.3
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	255.132	257.226	257.366	15.4	0.9	0.1
Durables	122.750	123.635	123.763	12.8	0.8	0.1
Services	324.473	326.069	327.008	3.5	0.8	0.3
Rent of shelter(1)	305.768	307.197	308.031	3.3	0.7	0.3
Transportation services	371.325	371.038	366.337	5.4	-1.3	-1.3
Other services	359.842	361.663	364.570	2.7	1.3	0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	248.860	250.160	250.869	6.1	0.8	0.3
All items less food	259.723	261.042	261.754	6.0	0.8	0.3
All items less shelter	248.833	250.169	250.858	6.8	0.8	0.3
Commodities less food	167.437	168.350	168.749	12.5	0.8	0.2
Nondurables	237.335	238.439	239.192	7.4	0.8	0.3
Nondurables less food	209.270	210.058	210.826	12.2	0.7	0.4
Nondurables less food and apparel	252.948	254.910	255.205	14.2	0.9	0.1
Services less rent of shelter(1)	358.208	360.062	361.162	3.7	0.8	0.3
Services less medical care services	304.651	306.150	307.068	3.7	0.8	0.3
Energy	219.706	223.507	224.764	24.5	2.3	0.6
All items less energy	267.389	268.496	269.161	4.3	0.7	0.2
All items less food and energy	266.926	267.966	268.621	4.5	0.6	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	157.647	158.099	158.537	8.0	0.6	0.3
Energy commodities	255.411	260.309	260.384	44.0	1.9	0.0
Services less energy services	337.596	339.046	339.832	3.2	0.7	0.2
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1982=100 base. (2) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (3) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (5) 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.