Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

18-57-ATL
Friday, January 12, 2018

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Consumer Price Index, Atlanta – December 2017

Area prices down 0.4 percent over the two months; up 3.2 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta declined 0.4 percent over the November-December pricing period, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that a 5.4-percent drop in the energy index contributed to the overall decrease. Over the two-month pricing period, the food index edged down 0.2 percent, while the all items less food and energy index inched up 0.1 percent. (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 all items CPI-U increased 3.2 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent over the year. Since December 2016, the food index rose 1.5 percent and the energy index increased 2.4 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

Food prices edged down 0.2 percent during the November-December pricing period, reflecting price decreases for food at home (-0.3 percent) and for food away from home (-0.2 percent).

Over the year, the food index rose 1.5 percent, led by a 2.4-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased, up 0.8 percent since December 2016.

Energy

The energy index declined 5.4 percent over the two-month pricing period, fueled by a 7.0-percent drop in motor fuel prices and a 5.8 percent decline in electricity prices. Prices for utility (piped) gas service rose 1.3 percent over the November-December pricing period.

Over the year, the energy index advanced 2.4 percent, reflecting price increases for motor fuel (4.5 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (5.1 percent). Electricity prices declined 1.7 percent since December 2016.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent during the November-December pricing period. Over the two months, a 1.0-percent increase in the shelter index was largely offset by a seasonal decline in the apparel index (-9.2 percent).

From December 2016 to December 2017, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.7 percent, led by a 5.3-percent increase in the shelter index.

 

Table A. Atlanta CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month20132014201520162017
2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month

February

1.92.11.31.80.0-0.30.31.61.23.5

April

0.11.10.82.50.7-0.51.01.90.63.2

June

1.01.41.53.02.50.61.30.71.33.2

August

0.71.5-0.12.2-0.10.60.51.20.83.5

October

-1.01.6-1.12.2-1.20.5-0.12.4-0.33.2

December

-0.22.4-1.50.9-0.61.4-0.42.6-0.43.2

The Consumer Price Index for January 2018 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

Consumer Price Index Geographic Revision for 2018

In January 2018, BLS will introduce a new geographic area sample for the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As part of the new sample, the index for this area will be renamed. The first indexes using the new structure will be published in February 2018. Additional information on the geographic revision is available at: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/additional-resources/geographic-revision-2018.htm.


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.

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
Atlanta, GA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

 
Indexes
 
Percent change from-
Oct.
2017
Nov.
2017
Dec.
2017
Dec.
2016
Oct.
2017
Nov.
2017

Expenditure category

 
 

All Items

235.030-234.1073.2-0.4-

All items (1967=100)

708.779-705.995---

Food and beverages

253.382-252.7051.7-0.3-

Food

263.687-263.0561.5-0.2-

Food at home

245.630243.435244.8740.8-0.30.6

Food away from home

292.714-292.2652.4-0.2-

Alcoholic beverages

161.401-160.3174.2-0.7-

Housing

235.165-235.8834.10.3-

Shelter

259.710261.193262.1885.31.00.4

Rent of primary residence(1)

265.808266.278267.2374.90.50.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)(2)

255.110256.337257.7085.81.00.5

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)(2)

255.110256.337257.7085.81.00.5

Fuels and utilities

279.875-272.4930.6-2.6-

Household energy

239.206233.064230.4200.4-3.7-1.1

Energy Services(1)

237.714231.259228.3590.1-3.9-1.3

Electricity(1)

205.948198.517193.967-1.7-5.8-2.3

Utility (piped) gas service(1)

276.739276.114280.3715.11.31.5

Household furnishings and operations

121.149-118.677-3.6-2.0-

Apparel

141.433-128.454-5.9-9.2-

Transportation

206.054-205.4678.6-0.3-

Private transportation

205.555-206.1579.50.3-

Motor fuel

222.322214.906206.7124.5-7.0-3.8

Gasoline (all types)

220.912213.446205.1944.4-7.1-3.9

Unleaded regular(3)

215.725208.462200.1923.9-7.2-4.0

Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

278.904269.214260.4486.3-6.6-3.3

Unleaded premium(3)

245.120236.621229.2097.6-6.5-3.1

Medical Care

452.853-451.3262.3-0.3-

Recreation(5)

85.813-84.555-0.4-1.5-

Education and communication(5)

132.964-132.309-1.5-0.5-

Other goods and services

375.858-374.2192.0-0.4-
 

Commodity and service group

 
 

All Items

235.030-234.1073.2-0.4-

Commodities

178.451-175.8900.5-1.4-

Commodities less food & beverages

144.966-141.641-0.4-2.3-

Nondurables less food & beverages

182.506-173.109-0.9-5.1-

Durables

106.227-108.9880.52.6-

Services

288.233-288.7244.80.2-
 

Special aggregate indexes

 
 

All items less medical care

223.469-222.5793.3-0.4-

All items less shelter

228.802-226.2752.2-1.1-

Commodities less food

145.218-141.994-0.2-2.2-

Nondurables

213.128-207.7510.5-2.5-

Nondurables less food

179.658-170.967-0.6-4.8-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

336.343-333.7654.1-0.8-

Services less medical care services

270.840-271.4705.00.2-

Energy

210.142203.926198.8472.4-5.4-2.5

All items less energy

237.524-237.6383.30.0-

All items less food and energy

233.846-234.0783.70.1-

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) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(4) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
(5) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
 

- Data not available.
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.
 

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, January 12, 2018