The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South edged down 0.2 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The all items less food and energy index decreased 0.2 percent over the month and the energy index declined 0.9 percent. The food index inched up 0.1 percent in July. (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 advanced 1.6 percent since July 2016. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.5 percent over the last 12 months and the energy index advanced 3.1 percent. The food index rose 1.0 percent over the year. (See chart 1.)

Food

The food index inched up 0.1 percent in July. Prices for food at home edged up 0.2 percent over the month, and those for food away from home inched up 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 1.0 percent since July 2016, led by a 2.1 percent increase in prices for food away from home. Food at home prices edged up 0.2 percent over the year.

Energy

The energy index decreased 0.9 percent in July, reflecting a 2.8 percent decline in motor fuel prices. Prices for electricity and for utility (piped) gas service increased over-the-month, up 0.8 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

From July 2016—July 2017, energy prices advanced 3.1 percent as price increases were recorded for electricity (2.6 percent), motor fuel (2.4 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (11.6 percent).

All items less food and energy

The all items less food and energy index edged down 0.2 percent in July. A seasonal decline in the apparel index (-3.0 percent) was partially offset by an increase in the shelter index (0.1 percent).

Since July 2016, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.5 percent—led by increases in shelter (2.9 percent) and medical care (3.6 percent). In contrast, the education and communication index declined over-the-year, down 4.0 percent.

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

Month	2013		2014		2015		2016		2017
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.4	1.6	0.3	1.7	-0.7	-0.4	0.0	1.2	0.5	2.6
February	0.9	1.8	0.4	1.2	0.5	-0.3	0.1	0.7	0.2	2.8
March	0.3	1.5	0.6	1.5	0.6	-0.3	0.6	0.7	0.0	2.2
April	-0.2	0.9	0.5	2.3	0.3	-0.6	0.4	0.9	0.2	2.0
May	0.0	1.3	0.2	2.4	0.4	-0.4	0.4	0.9	0.0	1.7
June	0.4	1.9	0.2	2.3	0.5	-0.1	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.5
July	0.2	2.2	-0.1	2.0	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	0.7	-0.2	1.6
August	0.1	1.7	-0.2	1.7	-0.2	-0.2	0.1	1.0
September	0.0	1.3	0.1	1.7	-0.2	-0.4	0.2	1.4
October	-0.2	1.3	-0.3	1.6	0.0	-0.1	0.1	1.5
November	-0.3	1.5	-0.6	1.3	-0.2	0.3	-0.1	1.6
December	0.1	1.8	-0.6	0.6	-0.4	0.5	0.1	2.0

The Consumer Price Index for August 2017 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 14, 2017.

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 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-
	May 2017	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017	Jul. 2016	May 2017	Jun. 2017
Expenditure category
All Items	236.774	237.346	236.942	1.6	0.1	-0.2
All items (December 1977=100)	384.080	385.008	384.353	-	-	-
Food and beverages	247.668	247.572	247.957	1.0	0.1	0.2
Food	248.979	248.914	249.284	1.0	0.1	0.1
Food at home	237.274	236.834	237.276	0.2	0.0	0.2
Food away from home	269.289	269.782	270.049	2.1	0.3	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	228.905	228.330	228.953	0.5	0.0	0.3
Housing	230.654	232.397	232.663	2.6	0.9	0.1
Shelter	264.371	265.464	265.614	2.9	0.5	0.1
Rent of primary residence(1)	274.189	275.135	275.889	3.6	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	265.809	266.815	267.496	3.0	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	265.802	266.809	267.492	3.0	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	232.475	240.686	242.147	3.5	4.2	0.6
Household energy	188.267	196.919	198.368	3.7	5.4	0.7
Energy services(1)	188.610	197.484	198.949	3.6	5.5	0.7
Electricity(1)	185.436	195.729	197.266	2.6	6.4	0.8
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	194.346	192.919	193.776	11.6	-0.3	0.4
Household furnishings and operations	121.058	120.720	120.582	-0.8	-0.4	-0.1
Apparel	135.390	134.145	130.081	-2.0	-3.9	-3.0
Transportation	202.445	201.440	199.866	1.9	-1.3	-0.8
Private transportation	200.230	199.315	197.997	2.1	-1.1	-0.7
New and used motor vehicles(3)	102.733	102.378	102.191	-1.0	-0.5	-0.2
New vehicles	154.601	154.076	153.000	0.3	-1.0	-0.7
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	105.268	104.905	104.169	0.3	-1.0	-0.7
New cars(4)	154.023	153.381	152.022	-0.4	-1.3	-0.9
Used cars and trucks	141.631	140.826	140.432	-3.7	-0.8	-0.3
Motor fuel	199.909	195.365	189.822	2.4	-5.0	-2.8
Gasoline (all types)	198.966	194.418	188.882	2.3	-5.1	-2.8
Unleaded regular(4)	193.893	189.241	183.654	2.1	-5.3	-3.0
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	221.109	216.813	212.417	3.7	-3.9	-2.0
Unleaded premium(4)	220.350	217.256	212.531	3.6	-3.5	-2.2
Medical care	455.545	457.102	456.954	3.6	0.3	0.0
Medical care commodities	359.628	364.320	366.507	3.8	1.9	0.6
Medical care services	488.225	488.499	487.413	3.6	-0.2	-0.2
Professional services	362.842	362.106	361.131	-1.4	-0.5	-0.3
Recreation(3)	117.944	118.069	117.914	-0.1	0.0	-0.1
Education and communication(3)	131.549	131.495	131.319	-4.0	-0.2	-0.1
Other goods and services	419.213	420.214	419.781	1.1	0.1	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	236.774	237.346	236.942	1.6	0.1	-0.2
Commodities	181.519	180.943	179.861	0.1	-0.9	-0.6
Commodities less food and beverages	150.164	149.412	147.773	-0.5	-1.6	-1.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	194.190	192.822	189.787	0.4	-2.3	-1.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	230.858	229.390	226.833	1.2	-1.7	-1.1
Durables	109.000	108.742	108.217	-1.6	-0.7	-0.5
Services	292.359	294.044	294.291	2.4	0.7	0.1
Rent of shelter(2)	271.335	272.463	272.622	2.9	0.5	0.1
Transportation services	342.363	343.752	344.379	5.1	0.6	0.2
Other services	335.769	336.070	336.055	-1.1	0.1	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	224.849	225.372	224.959	1.4	0.0	-0.2
All items less food	234.661	235.331	234.808	1.7	0.1	-0.2
All items less shelter	227.044	227.405	226.770	0.9	-0.1	-0.3
Commodities less food	152.600	151.850	150.259	-0.4	-1.5	-1.0
Nondurables	219.530	218.771	217.372	0.7	-1.0	-0.6
Nondurables less food	195.940	194.614	191.776	0.4	-2.1	-1.5
Nondurables less food and apparel	229.591	228.201	225.913	1.2	-1.6	-1.0
Services less rent of shelter(2)	327.927	330.373	330.738	2.0	0.9	0.1
Services less medical care services	274.850	276.604	276.936	2.3	0.8	0.1
Energy	189.473	192.109	190.436	3.1	0.5	-0.9
All items less energy	242.845	243.192	242.926	1.4	0.0	-0.1
All items less food and energy	242.182	242.601	242.224	1.5	0.0	-0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	147.377	147.147	146.081	-0.9	-0.9	-0.7
Energy commodities	203.397	198.845	193.352	2.5	-4.9	-2.8
Services less energy services	303.293	304.154	304.261	2.4	0.3	0.0
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) Index is 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.
- 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.