The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.5 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The all items less food and energy index contributed to the increase, up 0.5 percent over the month. The energy index increased 1.8 percent and the food index edged up 0.3 percent in February. (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 increased 1.1 percent over the year. Since February 2018, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.8 percent and the food index rose 1.9 percent. The energy index declined 6.5 percent over the last 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.3 percent in February, reflecting over-the-month increases in the food away home index (0.6 percent) and the food at home index (0.1 percent).

The food index advanced 1.9 percent since February 2018, led by a 2.9-percent increase in the food away from home index. Over the year, the food at home index rose 1.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 1.8 percent in February, reflecting a 4.1-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the utility (piped) gas service index declined in February (-1.9 percent), while the electricity index edged down 0.2 percent.

The energy index fell 6.5 percent from February 2018—February 2019, due in part to a 12.2-percent decline in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index also declined over the year, down 3.8 percent, while the electricity index edged up 0.3 percent.   

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent in February, as several indexes had increases including shelter (0.4 percent), apparel (3.2 percent), and medical care (0.6 percent).

Since February 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent. The shelter index contributed to the overall increase, up 3.0 percent over the year.  

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. Over the month, the all items CPI-U rose 0.6 percent in the East South Central and the South Atlantic divisions. The all items index in the West South Central division edged up 0.4 percent.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 1.5 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 0.7 percent in the East South Central and the West South Central divisions.

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

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.7	-0.4	0.0	1.2	0.5	2.6	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2
February	0.5	-0.3	0.1	0.7	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1
March	0.6	-0.3	0.6	0.7	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3
April	0.3	-0.6	0.4	0.9	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4
May	0.4	-0.4	0.4	0.9	0.0	1.7	0.3	2.7
June	0.5	-0.1	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.5	0.2	2.7
July	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	0.7	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9
August	-0.2	-0.2	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4
September	-0.2	-0.4	0.2	1.4	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7
October	0.0	-0.1	0.1	1.5	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1
November	-0.2	0.3	-0.1	1.6	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9
December	-0.4	0.5	0.1	2.0	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5

The Consumer Price Index for March 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 10, 2019.

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 population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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-
	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019	Feb. 2019	Feb. 2018	Dec. 2018	Jan. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	242.150	242.547	243.856	1.1	0.7	0.5
All items (December 1977=100)	392.801	393.445	395.568	-	-	-
Food and beverages	252.613	253.486	254.283	1.9	0.7	0.3
Food	253.875	254.780	255.522	1.9	0.6	0.3
Food at home	238.833	239.698	239.870	1.1	0.4	0.1
Cereal and bakery products	281.753	280.408	280.243	1.4	-0.5	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	241.889	240.931	242.780	0.7	0.4	0.8
Dairy and related products	221.557	220.259	219.595	0.4	-0.9	-0.3
Fruits and vegetables	287.469	292.367	291.564	2.4	1.4	-0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	166.687	170.030	169.935	2.6	1.9	-0.1
Other food at home	209.911	210.132	210.053	0.1	0.1	0.0
Food away from home	279.035	280.009	281.561	2.9	0.9	0.6
Alcoholic beverages	234.608	235.026	236.622	2.1	0.9	0.7
Housing	240.366	240.934	241.652	2.5	0.5	0.3
Shelter	276.993	277.768	278.981	3.0	0.7	0.4
Rent of primary residence	289.885	290.478	291.130	3.2	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	279.342	279.750	280.541	2.9	0.4	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	279.337	279.748	280.539	2.9	0.4	0.3
Fuels and utilities	239.326	238.277	237.582	0.3	-0.7	-0.3
Household energy	191.605	191.386	190.752	-0.4	-0.4	-0.3
Energy services	191.766	191.646	190.838	-0.3	-0.5	-0.4
Electricity	189.528	189.212	188.831	0.3	-0.4	-0.2
Utility (piped) gas service	190.832	192.081	188.382	-3.8	-1.3	-1.9
Household furnishings and operations	122.739	123.601	123.599	1.3	0.7	0.0
Apparel	129.644	131.748	136.017	1.4	4.9	3.2
Transportation	203.286	201.909	203.762	-2.5	0.2	0.9
Private transportation	202.276	201.044	202.641	-2.5	0.2	0.8
New and used motor vehicles(2)	101.725	102.294	101.980	0.4	0.3	-0.3
New vehicles	152.857	154.479	153.813	0.2	0.6	-0.4
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.081	105.169	104.712	0.3	0.6	-0.4
New cars(3)	152.708	154.309	153.515	0.5	0.5	-0.5
Used cars and trucks	139.665	140.439	140.815	1.4	0.8	0.3
Motor fuel	193.275	185.406	192.783	-12.0	-0.3	4.0
Gasoline (all types)	191.445	183.666	191.173	-12.2	-0.1	4.1
Unleaded regular(3)	185.923	178.216	185.794	-12.5	-0.1	4.3
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	217.180	209.302	215.812	-10.4	-0.6	3.1
Unleaded premium(3)	217.689	210.159	216.174	-9.4	-0.7	2.9
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	957.676	956.571	957.461	1.3	0.0	0.1
Medical care	463.428	465.889	468.571	0.8	1.1	0.6
Medical care commodities	355.052	358.356	358.403	-3.1	0.9	0.0
Medical care services	499.967	502.125	505.723	1.8	1.2	0.7
Professional services	364.120	365.034	367.656	1.3	1.0	0.7
Recreation(2)	119.452	120.317	121.102	2.6	1.4	0.7
Education and communication(2)	132.218	132.185	132.326	-0.1	0.1	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,326.980	1,321.563	1,324.361	1.6	-0.2	0.2
Other goods and services	427.225	427.738	430.303	1.4	0.7	0.6
Commodity and service group
All Items	242.150	242.547	243.856	1.1	0.7	0.5
Commodities	180.668	180.980	182.390	-0.5	1.0	0.8
Commodities less food and beverages	147.233	147.336	148.892	-1.9	1.1	1.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	189.494	188.328	192.111	-4.0	1.4	2.0
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	226.703	223.809	227.466	-5.6	0.3	1.6
Durables	107.268	108.156	108.174	0.5	0.8	0.0
Services	304.088	304.570	305.752	2.2	0.5	0.4
Rent of shelter(1)	284.405	285.203	286.465	3.0	0.7	0.4
Transportation services	359.031	357.177	358.937	0.5	0.0	0.5
Other services	343.108	343.819	345.510	1.8	0.7	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	230.069	230.363	231.598	1.2	0.7	0.5
All items less food	240.105	240.426	241.818	1.0	0.7	0.6
All items less shelter	229.578	229.833	231.182	0.3	0.7	0.6
Commodities less food	149.854	149.964	151.528	-1.8	1.1	1.0
Nondurables	219.277	219.045	221.468	-1.0	1.0	1.1
Nondurables less food	191.785	190.701	194.370	-3.6	1.3	1.9
Nondurables less food and apparel	226.216	223.593	227.072	-5.0	0.4	1.6
Services less rent of shelter(1)	338.331	338.448	339.573	1.4	0.4	0.3
Services less medical care services	286.383	286.733	287.719	2.3	0.5	0.3
Energy	187.659	183.724	187.002	-6.5	-0.4	1.8
All items less energy	249.057	249.946	251.036	1.8	0.8	0.4
All items less food and energy	248.628	249.515	250.666	1.8	0.8	0.5
Commodities less food and energy commodities	145.102	146.342	147.092	0.3	1.4	0.5
Energy commodities	197.057	189.095	196.619	-11.8	-0.2	4.0
Services less energy services	315.952	316.500	317.900	2.4	0.6	0.4
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.