The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.4 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy also rose 0.4 percent over the month. The food index increased 0.8 percent in October, while the energy index edged up 0.2 percent. (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 8.1 percent for the 12 months ending in October, after increasing 8.7-percent over the 12-month period ending in September. The index for all items less food and energy rose 7.1 percent over the past year. The food index and the energy index also increased over the last 12 months, up 11.1 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.8 percent in October, led by a 0.8-percent increase in the food at home index. Several major grocery store food groups increased over the month, including other food at home (+0.9 percent) and fruits and vegetables (+1.4 percent). The food away from home index also increased in October, up 0.7 percent.

The food index advanced 11.1 percent for the 12 months ending in October. The food at home index rose 12.7 percent over the past year as all six major grocery store food group indexes increased. The food away from home index rose 8.4 percent over the past year.

Energy

The energy index edged up 0.2 percent in October, reflecting a 0.8-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the electricity and natural gas indexes declined over the month, down 0.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The energy index rose 13.6 percent for the 12 months ending in October, led by increases in the electricity (+16.9 percent) and gasoline (+9.0 percent) indexes. The index for natural gas also increased over the last 12 months, up 23.3 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in October, primarily reflecting a 0.8-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.8 percent over the month and rent of primary residence rose 1.0 percent. In contrast, the used cars and trucks index declined 2.4 percent in October.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 7.1 percent for the 12 months ending in October, after increasing 7.4 percent over the 12-month period ending in September. Several components contributed to the 12-month increase, most notably, shelter (+8.7 percent). Within shelter, owner’s equivalent rent increased 8.6 percent over the past year and rent of primary residence rose 10.2 percent.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In October, the all items index rose 0.5 percent in the South Atlantic division, 0.3 percent in the East South Central division, and 0.2 percent in the West South Central division.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 8.4 percent in the West South Central division and 8.3 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index increased 6.8 percent in the East South Central division.

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

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3	0.5	1.6	0.9	7.8
February	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0	1.1	8.4
March	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9	1.4	9.1
April	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4	0.5	8.8
May	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6	1.2	9.2
June	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.9	5.8	1.5	9.8
July	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8	0.1	9.4
August	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6	-0.2	8.9
September	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3	0.3	5.8	0.2	8.7
October	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3	1.0	6.6	0.4	8.1
November	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2	0.4	7.2
December	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4	0.3	7.4

The Consumer Price Index for November 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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-
	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022	Oct. 2022	Oct. 2021	Aug. 2022	Sep. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	287.168	287.656	288.836	8.1	0.6	0.4
All items (December 1977=100)	465.826	466.619	468.533	-	-	-
Food and beverages	303.117	305.543	307.885	10.7	1.6	0.8
Food	306.513	309.105	311.524	11.1	1.6	0.8
Food at home	291.673	294.198	296.644	12.7	1.7	0.8
Cereal and bakery products	343.055	349.113	348.943	15.9	1.7	0.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	312.723	312.602	314.999	7.6	0.7	0.8
Dairy and related products	268.769	270.267	270.634	16.7	0.7	0.1
Fruits and vegetables	321.770	327.368	331.867	9.3	3.1	1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	203.203	204.004	207.179	14.6	2.0	1.6
Other food at home	258.525	261.125	263.482	16.1	1.9	0.9
Food away from home	330.085	332.769	335.110	8.4	1.5	0.7
Alcoholic beverages	255.928	256.052	257.323	4.0	0.5	0.5
Housing	282.986	285.527	287.255	9.5	1.5	0.6
Shelter	323.346	326.358	328.859	8.7	1.7	0.8
Rent of primary residence	342.960	346.963	350.275	10.2	2.1	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	324.693	328.026	330.657	8.6	1.8	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	324.694	328.026	330.655	8.6	1.8	0.8
Fuels and utilities	297.285	298.740	297.757	14.6	0.2	-0.3
Household energy	247.703	248.888	247.374	18.0	-0.1	-0.6
Energy services	247.272	248.485	246.776	17.9	-0.2	-0.7
Electricity	238.801	239.843	237.971	16.9	-0.3	-0.8
Utility (piped) gas service	283.099	285.328	284.825	23.3	0.6	-0.2
Household furnishings and operations	144.650	146.275	147.092	9.8	1.7	0.6
Apparel	135.296	139.289	139.069	5.4	2.8	-0.2
Transportation	271.261	265.348	266.021	9.5	-1.9	0.3
Private transportation	273.305	266.854	267.237	8.8	-2.2	0.1
New and used motor vehicles(2)	134.874	132.058	130.888	5.8	-3.0	-0.9
New vehicles	182.825	183.582	184.452	9.3	0.9	0.5
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	182.572	183.490	183.754	10.2	0.6	0.1
Used cars and trucks	213.629	204.436	199.567	1.5	-6.6	-2.4
Motor fuel	319.583	295.417	298.069	9.7	-6.7	0.9
Gasoline (all types)	316.509	292.146	294.628	9.0	-6.9	0.8
Unleaded regular(3)	309.640	285.463	288.047	8.9	-7.0	0.9
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	351.711	326.336	327.675	9.6	-6.8	0.4
Unleaded premium(3)	339.920	316.790	318.166	9.4	-6.4	0.4
Medical care	524.413	526.044	524.379	4.5	0.0	-0.3
Medical care commodities	367.381	368.203	368.319	3.8	0.3	0.0
Medical care services	577.602	579.512	577.223	4.6	-0.1	-0.4
Professional services	393.397	393.719	394.829	2.4	0.4	0.3
Recreation(2)	131.551	131.706	132.171	3.5	0.5	0.4
Education and communication(2)	138.494	138.724	138.796	-0.5	0.2	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,426.584	1,435.473	1,438.622	3.0	0.8	0.2
Other goods and services	489.069	490.976	492.794	7.1	0.8	0.4
Commodity and service group
All Items	287.168	287.656	288.836	8.1	0.6	0.4
Commodities	221.977	220.461	220.976	7.9	-0.5	0.2
Commodities less food and beverages	183.600	180.881	180.774	6.4	-1.5	-0.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	236.331	231.697	232.992	8.3	-1.4	0.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	296.538	287.411	289.515	9.1	-2.4	0.7
Durables	133.931	132.538	131.715	4.8	-1.7	-0.6
Services	352.313	354.916	356.783	8.3	1.3	0.5
Rent of shelter(1)	332.744	335.914	338.502	8.8	1.7	0.8
Transportation services	410.197	416.857	423.338	16.5	3.2	1.6
Other services	374.222	374.447	375.427	2.0	0.3	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	274.094	274.523	275.842	8.5	0.6	0.5
All items less food	283.965	284.157	285.161	7.7	0.4	0.4
All items less shelter	274.268	273.764	274.428	7.8	0.1	0.2
Commodities less food	185.994	183.324	183.246	6.3	-1.5	0.0
Nondurables	267.901	266.562	268.349	9.6	0.2	0.7
Nondurables less food	237.094	232.730	234.022	8.1	-1.3	0.6
Nondurables less food and apparel	291.539	283.226	285.250	8.7	-2.2	0.7
Services less rent of shelter(1)	388.044	390.004	391.011	7.7	0.8	0.3
Services less medical care services	331.941	334.577	336.753	8.8	1.4	0.7
Energy	275.588	265.148	265.570	13.6	-3.6	0.2
All items less energy	289.989	291.577	292.840	7.6	1.0	0.4
All items less food and energy	287.715	289.147	290.228	7.1	0.9	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities	170.451	170.180	169.777	5.6	-0.4	-0.2
Energy commodities	325.021	300.948	303.767	10.0	-6.5	0.9
Services less energy services	363.483	366.233	368.475	7.6	1.4	0.6
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. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.