The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South declined 0.1 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The all items less food and energy index inched down 0.1 percent and the food index edged down 0.2 percent over the month. The energy index also declined in May, down 0.1 percent. (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 1.4 percent from May 2018 to May 2019. Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.6 percent and the food index rose 1.9 percent. The energy index declined 1.7 percent over the 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged down 0.2 percent in May, led by a 0.4 percent decline in the food at home index as the index for fruits and vegetables fell 2.1 percent. The food away from home index was little changed from April, up 0.1 percent in May.

The food index advanced 1.9 percent since May 2018, reflecting increases in the food away from home index (3.1 percent) and the food at home index (1.0 percent).

Energy

The energy index inched down 0.1 percent in May, reflecting declines in the gasoline index (-0.1 percent) and the utility (piped) gas service index (-1.2 percent). In contrast, the electricity index edged up 0.2 percent over the month.

The energy index decreased 1.7 percent for the 12 months ending May 2019, led by declines in the gasoline index (-3.5 percent) and the utility (piped) gas service index (-2.3 percent). Over the year, the electricity index was up 1.1 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched down 0.1 percent in May. Several categories recorded declines, most notably recreation (-1.2 percent) and new and used motor vehicles (-0.8 percent). The shelter and medical care indexes edged up slightly over the month, up 0.3 and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Since May 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.6 percent, reflecting increases for the shelter index (2.9 percent) and the recreation index (2.6 percent).  

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. Since April, the all items CPI-U inched down 0.1 percent in the South Atlantic and the East South Central divisions. The all items index in the West South division was unchanged.  

Since May 2018, the all items index advanced 1.9 percent in the South Atlantic division. Over the year, the all items index rose 1.0 percent in the West South Central division and 0.3 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	-0.1	1.4
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 June 2019 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 11, 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.

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