The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.4 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The all items less food and energy index edged up 0.3 percent over the month and the energy index advanced 2.2 percent. The food index inched up 0.1 percent in August. (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 rose 1.9 percent since August 2016. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.6 percent over the last 12 months and the energy index advanced 6.4 percent. The food index rose 0.9 percent over the year. (See chart 1.)

Food

The food index inched up 0.1 percent in August. Prices for food away from home edged up 0.2 percent over the month, while prices for food at home were unchanged.

The food index rose 0.9 percent since August 2016, led by a 2.0 percent increase in prices for food away from home. Over the year, prices for food at home edged up 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 2.2 percent in August, led by a 5.1 percent increased in motor fuel prices. Over the month, prices for utility (piped) gas service also rose (up 0.3 percent), while electricity prices edged down 0.2 percent.

From August 2016—August 2017, energy prices advanced 6.4 percent as price increases were recorded for motor fuel (10.2 percent), electricity (2.3 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (10.7 percent).

All items less food and energy

The all items less food and energy index edged up 0.3 percent in August, led by an increase in the shelter index (0.5 percent).

Since August 2016, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.6 percent as several indexes recorded increases, most notably shelter (3.2 percent) and medical care (2.1 percent). In contrast, the education and communication index declined over-the-year, down 3.8 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	0.4	1.9
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 September 2017 is scheduled to be released on Friday, October 13, 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-
	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017	Aug. 2017	Aug. 2016	Jun. 2017	Jul. 2017
Expenditure category
All Items	237.346	236.942	237.892	1.9	0.2	0.4
All items (December 1977=100)	385.008	384.353	385.894	-	-	-
Food and beverages	247.572	247.957	248.255	0.9	0.3	0.1
Food	248.914	249.284	249.549	0.9	0.3	0.1
Food at home	236.834	237.276	237.375	0.2	0.2	0.0
Food away from home	269.782	270.049	270.563	2.0	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	228.330	228.953	229.753	1.1	0.6	0.3
Housing	232.397	232.663	233.398	2.7	0.4	0.3
Shelter	265.464	265.614	266.850	3.2	0.5	0.5
Rent of primary residence(1)	275.135	275.889	277.156	3.8	0.7	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)	266.815	267.496	268.791	3.1	0.7	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)	266.809	267.492	268.782	3.2	0.7	0.5
Fuels and utilities	240.686	242.147	242.139	3.2	0.6	0.0
Household energy	196.919	198.368	198.075	3.4	0.6	-0.1
Energy services(1)	197.484	198.949	198.670	3.3	0.6	-0.1
Electricity(1)	195.729	197.266	196.849	2.3	0.6	-0.2
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	192.919	193.776	194.451	10.7	0.8	0.3
Household furnishings and operations	120.720	120.582	120.043	-1.2	-0.6	-0.4
Apparel	134.145	130.081	130.746	-0.9	-2.5	0.5
Transportation	201.440	199.866	202.213	3.8	0.4	1.2
Private transportation	199.315	197.997	200.731	4.0	0.7	1.4
New and used motor vehicles(3)	102.378	102.191	101.833	-1.3	-0.5	-0.4
New vehicles	154.076	153.000	152.523	-0.2	-1.0	-0.3
New cars and trucks(3)(4)	104.905	104.169	103.866	-0.2	-1.0	-0.3
New cars(4)	153.381	152.022	151.553	-0.8	-1.2	-0.3
Used cars and trucks	140.826	140.432	140.423	-3.4	-0.3	0.0
Motor fuel	195.365	189.822	199.441	10.2	2.1	5.1
Gasoline (all types)	194.418	188.882	198.505	10.2	2.1	5.1
Unleaded regular(4)	189.241	183.654	193.308	10.2	2.1	5.3
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	216.813	212.417	221.364	10.3	2.1	4.2
Unleaded premium(4)	217.256	212.531	220.951	9.7	1.7	4.0
Medical care	457.102	456.954	457.722	2.1	0.1	0.2
Medical care commodities	364.320	366.507	368.369	1.4	1.1	0.5
Medical care services	488.499	487.413	487.730	2.3	-0.2	0.1
Professional services	362.106	361.131	361.381	-1.4	-0.2	0.1
Recreation(3)	118.069	117.914	117.923	0.5	-0.1	0.0
Education and communication(3)	131.495	131.319	132.004	-3.8	0.4	0.5
Other goods and services	420.214	419.781	419.118	0.9	-0.3	-0.2
Commodity and service group
All Items	237.346	236.942	237.892	1.9	0.2	0.4
Commodities	180.943	179.861	180.686	0.6	-0.1	0.5
Commodities less food and beverages	149.412	147.773	148.786	0.4	-0.4	0.7
Nondurables less food and beverages	192.822	189.787	192.701	2.3	-0.1	1.5
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	229.390	226.833	231.036	3.3	0.7	1.9
Durables	108.742	108.217	107.786	-1.9	-0.9	-0.4
Services	294.044	294.291	295.371	2.6	0.5	0.4
Rent of shelter(2)	272.463	272.622	273.905	3.2	0.5	0.5
Transportation services	343.752	344.379	345.980	6.0	0.6	0.5
Other services	336.070	336.055	337.227	-0.8	0.3	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	225.372	224.959	225.910	1.8	0.2	0.4
All items less food	235.331	234.808	235.863	2.0	0.2	0.4
All items less shelter	227.405	226.770	227.608	1.2	0.1	0.4
Commodities less food	151.850	150.259	151.271	0.5	-0.4	0.7
Nondurables	218.771	217.372	219.034	1.6	0.1	0.8
Nondurables less food	194.614	191.776	194.576	2.2	0.0	1.5
Nondurables less food and apparel	228.201	225.913	229.822	3.1	0.7	1.7
Services less rent of shelter(2)	330.373	330.738	331.593	2.0	0.4	0.3
Services less medical care services	276.604	276.936	278.051	2.6	0.5	0.4
Energy	192.109	190.436	194.532	6.4	1.3	2.2
All items less energy	243.192	242.926	243.533	1.5	0.1	0.2
All items less food and energy	242.601	242.224	242.892	1.6	0.1	0.3
Commodities less food and energy commodities	147.147	146.081	145.916	-1.2	-0.8	-0.1
Energy commodities	198.845	193.352	202.893	10.1	2.0	4.9
Services less energy services	304.154	304.261	305.492	2.5	0.4	0.4
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.