The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta declined 0.6 percent over the November-December pricing period, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the energy index declined 5.8 percent over the two months. The all items less food and energy index inched down 0.1 percent while the food index was unchanged during the November-December pricing period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U increased 1.4 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent over the year as several indexes registered increases. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices were unchanged during the November-December pricing period. Prices for food away from edged down 0.2 percent over the two months while prices for food at home inched up 0.1 percent.

Over the year, the food index rose 1.2 percent, led by a 4.1-percent increase for food away from home. Prices for food at home declined 0.7 percent since December 2014.

Energy

The energy index declined 5.8 percent over the two-month pricing period, led by a decrease in motor fuel prices (-8.2 percent). Prices for electricity and utility (piped) gas service declined 5.0 and 0.6 percent, respectively.

Over the year, the energy index fell 12.3 percent, reflecting a 21.1-percent drop in motor fuel prices. Since December 2014, prices for utility (piped) gas service declined 8.8 percent and electricity prices declined 1.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched down 0.1 percent during the November-December pricing period as a seasonal decline in prices for apparel (-11.0 percent) were largely offset by price increases for shelter (0.8 percent).

From December 2014 to December 2015, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.0 percent. Price increases were noted for shelter (4.7 percent), medical care (2.9 percent), and other goods and services (6.0 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for January 2016 is scheduled to be released on Friday, February 19, 2016.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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 Atlanta, Ga. metropolitan area covered in this release is comprised of Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties in Georgia.

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