The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South edged up 0.3 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The energy index contributed to the increase, up 2.1 percent over the month. Since June, the all items less food and energy index inched up 0.1 percent and the food index edged up 0.2 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 July 2018 to July 2019. Over the last 12 months, the all items less food and energy index advanced 1.8 percent and the food index rose 1.7 percent. The energy index declined 2.4 percent over the 12-month period. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.2 percent in July, reflecting over-the-month increases in the food at home (0.3 percent) and the food away from home (0.1 percent) indexes.

The food index advanced 1.7 percent since July 2018, led by a 3.2-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index rose 0.5 percent over the past 12 months.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.1 percent in July, reflecting a 3.3-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index increased 1.0 percent since June, while the utility (piped) gas service index was little changed from June, up 0.1 percent in July.  

The energy index was down 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending July, led by a 4.9-percent decline in the gasoline index. Over the last 12 months, the utility (piped) gas service index was down 1.0 percent, while the electricity index was up 1.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent in July. Several categories recorded increases, most notably shelter (0.2 percent), used cars and trucks (1.4 percent), and medical care (0.4 percent). In contrast, apparel was among the indexes that declined since June, down 1.2 percent.   

Since July 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.8 percent, reflecting a 3.1-percent increase in the shelter index.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. Since June, the all items CPI-U rose 0.3 percent in both 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 month.  

Over the last 12 months, the all items index advanced 1.9 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 1.0 percent in the West South Central division and 0.5 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	-0.1	1.1
July	-0.1	-0.1	-0.2	0.7	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4
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 August 2019 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 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-
	May 2019	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019	Jul. 2018	May 2019	Jun. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	246.667	246.515	247.250	1.4	0.2	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	400.128	399.882	401.075	-	-	-
Food and beverages	254.705	254.350	254.928	1.8	0.1	0.2
Food	255.978	255.594	256.133	1.7	0.1	0.2
Food at home	239.622	238.216	238.910	0.5	-0.3	0.3
Cereal and bakery products	280.568	280.509	282.345	1.6	0.6	0.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	243.770	242.066	244.064	-0.4	0.1	0.8
Dairy and related products	219.780	220.435	219.642	1.6	-0.1	-0.4
Fruits and vegetables	287.366	282.523	284.617	0.2	-1.0	0.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	169.855	166.934	166.842	1.7	-1.8	-0.1
Other food at home	210.338	210.788	210.251	-0.1	0.0	-0.3
Food away from home	283.012	284.053	284.385	3.2	0.5	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	236.554	236.610	237.757	2.9	0.5	0.5
Housing	243.136	244.805	245.364	2.8	0.9	0.2
Shelter	281.372	282.573	283.058	3.1	0.6	0.2
Rent of primary residence	293.788	294.996	295.659	3.4	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	282.696	283.865	284.649	3.2	0.7	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	282.698	283.870	284.657	3.2	0.7	0.3
Fuels and utilities	236.775	240.276	242.012	1.0	2.2	0.7
Household energy	189.698	193.370	194.951	0.6	2.8	0.8
Energy services	189.793	193.668	195.334	0.8	2.9	0.9
Electricity	188.298	192.670	194.543	1.0	3.3	1.0
Utility (piped) gas service	183.880	183.978	184.077	-1.0	0.1	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	123.579	125.599	125.685	2.9	1.7	0.1
Apparel	135.596	133.527	131.962	-1.5	-2.7	-1.2
Transportation	213.605	210.716	212.724	-0.9	-0.4	1.0
Private transportation	212.324	209.434	211.737	-0.9	-0.3	1.1
New and used motor vehicles(2)	101.927	102.289	102.721	0.0	0.8	0.4
New vehicles	154.037	153.715	153.361	0.0	-0.4	-0.2
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.876	104.643	104.396	-0.1	-0.5	-0.2
New cars(3)	153.797	153.831	153.438	0.3	-0.2	-0.3
Used cars and trucks	139.834	141.785	143.788	1.1	2.8	1.4
Motor fuel	234.131	219.998	227.170	-4.9	-3.0	3.3
Gasoline (all types)	232.977	218.734	226.040	-4.9	-3.0	3.3
Unleaded regular(3)	227.542	213.270	220.592	-5.0	-3.1	3.4
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	256.452	242.758	250.147	-4.2	-2.5	3.0
Unleaded premium(3)	253.724	241.315	247.567	-3.8	-2.4	2.6
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	944.421	948.277	951.188	0.9	0.7	0.3
Medical care	471.203	470.823	472.693	1.7	0.3	0.4
Medical care commodities	357.919	355.674	357.008	-2.9	-0.3	0.4
Medical care services	509.438	509.713	511.765	2.8	0.5	0.4
Professional services	366.107	366.162	366.081	0.2	0.0	0.0
Recreation(2)	120.480	119.903	119.585	0.8	-0.7	-0.3
Education and communication(2)	132.605	132.851	132.881	0.3	0.2	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,332.079	1,334.325	1,337.155	3.0	0.4	0.2
Other goods and services	429.763	429.206	430.820	0.9	0.2	0.4
Commodity and service group
All Items	246.667	246.515	247.250	1.4	0.2	0.3
Commodities	186.256	184.721	185.556	-0.1	-0.4	0.5
Commodities less food and beverages	153.763	151.894	152.777	-1.2	-0.6	0.6
Nondurables less food and beverages	204.604	199.459	201.217	-2.3	-1.7	0.9
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	247.045	240.140	243.673	-2.6	-1.4	1.5
Durables	107.825	108.178	108.433	0.2	0.6	0.2
Services	307.399	308.723	309.341	2.4	0.6	0.2
Rent of shelter(1)	288.952	290.195	290.719	3.2	0.6	0.2
Transportation services	360.953	361.128	361.192	0.6	0.1	0.0
Other services	345.063	344.677	344.499	1.1	-0.2	-0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.404	234.265	234.940	1.4	0.2	0.3
All items less food	244.975	244.857	245.621	1.4	0.3	0.3
All items less shelter	234.159	233.494	234.326	0.7	0.1	0.4
Commodities less food	156.315	154.478	155.372	-1.1	-0.6	0.6
Nondurables	228.455	225.494	226.716	-0.3	-0.8	0.5
Nondurables less food	206.212	201.337	203.063	-2.0	-1.5	0.9
Nondurables less food and apparel	245.034	238.702	242.033	-2.2	-1.2	1.4
Services less rent of shelter(1)	340.259	341.725	342.479	1.7	0.7	0.2
Services less medical care services	289.193	290.585	291.088	2.4	0.7	0.2
Energy	206.597	201.518	205.779	-2.4	-0.4	2.1
All items less energy	251.957	252.362	252.700	1.8	0.3	0.1
All items less food and energy	251.666	252.205	252.511	1.8	0.3	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities	146.842	146.715	146.750	-0.2	-0.1	0.0
Energy commodities	237.877	223.645	230.758	-4.9	-3.0	3.2
Services less energy services	319.841	320.880	321.382	2.6	0.5	0.2
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.