The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.5 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The energy index contributed to the increase, up 4.4 percent over the month. The all items less food and energy index edged up 0.2 percent in April, while the food index was unchanged. (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 1.8 percent over the year. Since April 2018, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.8 percent. The food index rose 2.1 percent and the energy index rose 1.4 percent for the 12 months ending April 2019. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index was unchanged in April. The food away from home index rose 0.3 percent, while the food at home index edged down 0.2 percent over the month.

The food index advanced 2.1 percent since April 2018, led by a 3.3-percent increase in the food away from home index. Over the year, the food at home index rose 1.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index increased 4.4 percent in April, reflecting a 8.8-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the indexes for electricity and utility (piped) gas service were down over the pricing period, declining 0.4 and 0.8 percent, respectively.

The energy index increased 1.4 percent for the 12 months ending April 2019, led by a 1.8-percent increase in the gasoline index. Over the year, the electricity index was up 1.4 percent, while the utility (piped) gas service index was down 1.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in April. The shelter index contributed to the overall increase, up 0.2 percent over the month. 

Since April 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent, reflecting increases for the shelter index (2.9 percent) and the recreation index (3.6 percent).  

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In April, the all items CPI-U advanced 0.6 percent in the South Atlantic and the West South Central divisions. The all items index in the East South Central division edged up 0.2 percent.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 2.3 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 1.4 percent in the West South Central division and 0.7 percent in the East South Central division.

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	0.7	1.6
April	0.3	-0.6	0.4	0.9	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8
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 May 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 12, 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-
	Feb. 2019	Mar. 2019	Apr. 2019	Apr. 2018	Feb. 2019	Mar. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	243.856	245.554	246.847	1.8	1.2	0.5
All items (December 1977=100)	395.568	398.323	400.419	-	-	-
Food and beverages	254.283	254.988	255.061	2.1	0.3	0.0
Food	255.522	256.326	256.387	2.1	0.3	0.0
Food at home	239.870	240.947	240.477	1.2	0.3	-0.2
Cereal and bakery products	280.243	281.405	280.806	1.9	0.2	-0.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	242.780	242.755	242.725	-1.1	0.0	0.0
Dairy and related products	219.595	220.743	221.183	0.7	0.7	0.2
Fruits and vegetables	291.564	293.784	293.617	3.4	0.7	-0.1
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	169.935	171.784	169.856	3.1	0.0	-1.1
Other food at home	210.053	210.701	210.464	0.6	0.2	-0.1
Food away from home	281.561	281.996	282.804	3.3	0.4	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	236.622	235.885	236.128	1.5	-0.2	0.1
Housing	241.652	242.290	242.715	2.6	0.4	0.2
Shelter	278.981	279.940	280.555	2.9	0.6	0.2
Rent of primary residence	291.130	291.899	293.032	3.4	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	280.541	281.175	282.154	3.0	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	280.539	281.171	282.153	3.0	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	237.582	237.465	236.765	1.2	-0.3	-0.3
Household energy	190.752	190.571	189.722	1.0	-0.5	-0.4
Energy services	190.838	190.672	189.806	1.1	-0.5	-0.5
Electricity	188.831	188.748	187.991	1.4	-0.4	-0.4
Utility (piped) gas service	188.382	187.655	186.107	-1.0	-1.2	-0.8
Household furnishings and operations	123.599	123.671	124.156	1.8	0.5	0.4
Apparel	136.017	135.636	136.487	-3.2	0.3	0.6
Transportation	203.762	209.792	214.361	1.2	5.2	2.2
Private transportation	202.641	208.776	213.339	1.4	5.3	2.2
New and used motor vehicles(2)	101.980	102.548	102.708	1.1	0.7	0.2
New vehicles	153.813	154.512	154.906	1.6	0.7	0.3
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.712	105.196	105.467	1.6	0.7	0.3
New cars(3)	153.515	154.414	154.950	1.9	0.9	0.3
Used cars and trucks	140.815	141.988	141.706	0.9	0.6	-0.2
Motor fuel	192.783	215.717	234.413	1.8	21.6	8.7
Gasoline (all types)	191.173	214.333	233.301	1.8	22.0	8.8
Unleaded regular(3)	185.794	209.064	227.884	1.8	22.7	9.0
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	215.812	237.862	256.958	2.1	19.1	8.0
Unleaded premium(3)	216.174	235.636	253.801	2.1	17.4	7.7
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	957.461	954.844	949.752	1.1	-0.8	-0.5
Medical care	468.571	468.551	470.483	1.1	0.4	0.4
Medical care commodities	358.403	356.655	357.944	-2.9	-0.1	0.4
Medical care services	505.723	506.308	508.458	2.1	0.5	0.4
Professional services	367.656	366.632	366.274	-0.2	-0.4	-0.1
Recreation(2)	121.102	121.886	121.906	3.6	0.7	0.0
Education and communication(2)	132.326	132.249	132.496	0.5	0.1	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,324.361	1,330.374	1,330.655	2.7	0.5	0.0
Other goods and services	430.303	430.284	428.586	0.4	-0.4	-0.4
Commodity and service group
All Items	243.856	245.554	246.847	1.8	1.2	0.5
Commodities	182.390	184.978	186.863	0.9	2.5	1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	148.892	152.007	154.428	0.2	3.7	1.6
Nondurables less food and beverages	192.111	198.968	204.815	-0.4	6.6	2.9
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	227.466	238.288	246.911	0.4	8.5	3.6
Durables	108.174	108.660	108.713	1.0	0.5	0.0
Services	305.752	306.479	307.121	2.4	0.4	0.2
Rent of shelter(1)	286.465	287.469	288.109	2.9	0.6	0.2
Transportation services	358.937	359.605	360.450	0.5	0.4	0.2
Other services	345.510	346.110	346.329	2.3	0.2	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	231.598	233.373	234.628	1.9	1.3	0.5
All items less food	241.818	243.646	245.120	1.7	1.4	0.6
All items less shelter	231.182	233.164	234.716	1.3	1.5	0.7
Commodities less food	151.528	154.574	156.959	0.2	3.6	1.5
Nondurables	221.468	225.520	228.733	0.8	3.3	1.4
Nondurables less food	194.370	200.833	206.390	-0.3	6.2	2.8
Nondurables less food and apparel	227.072	236.947	244.878	0.5	7.8	3.3
Services less rent of shelter(1)	339.573	339.988	340.656	1.9	0.3	0.2
Services less medical care services	287.719	288.450	288.971	2.4	0.4	0.2
Energy	187.002	198.068	206.745	1.4	10.6	4.4
All items less energy	251.036	251.680	252.140	1.8	0.4	0.2
All items less food and energy	250.666	251.283	251.812	1.8	0.5	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	147.092	147.404	147.543	-0.1	0.3	0.1
Energy commodities	196.619	219.502	238.169	1.7	21.1	8.5
Services less energy services	317.900	318.723	319.531	2.5	0.5	0.3
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.