The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South declined 0.1 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Since July, the energy index fell 3.1 percent, while the all items less food and energy index edged up 0.2 percent. The food index was unchanged from July to August. (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 August 2018 to August 2019. Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.2 percent and the food index rose 1.5 percent. The energy index declined 5.7 percent over the 12-month period. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index was unchanged from July to August. The food away from index edged up 0.2 percent since July, while the food at home index inched down 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 1.5 percent for the 12 months ending August 2019, led by a 3.2-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index was little changed over the 12-month period, up 0.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index fell 3.1 percent in August, led by a 5.5-percent decline in the gasoline index. The electricity index was down 0.7 percent over the month, while the utility (piped) gas service index was up 1.2 percent.

The energy index was down 5.7 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting a 10.4 percent drop in the gasoline index. Since August 2018, the electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes rose slightly, up 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.2 percent in August. Several categories recorded increases, most notably medical care (0.5 percent), recreation (0.7 percent), and shelter (0.1 percent). In contrast, household furnishings and operations was among the indexes that declined from July to August, down 0.6 percent.  

Since August 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.2 percent, reflecting increases in the shelter (3.2 percent) and medical care (2.8 percent) indexes.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U for the West South Central division edged down 0.2 percent in August. Over the month, the all items index inched down 0.1 percent in both the East South Central and the South Atlantic divisions.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 1.8 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 0.9 percent in the West South Central division and 0.6 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	-0.1	1.4
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 September 2019 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 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-
	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019	Aug. 2019	Aug. 2018	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	246.515	247.250	246.953	1.4	0.2	-0.1
All items (December 1977=100)	399.882	401.075	400.593	-	-	-
Food and beverages	254.350	254.928	255.037	1.6	0.3	0.0
Food	255.594	256.133	256.205	1.5	0.2	0.0
Food at home	238.216	238.910	238.578	0.1	0.2	-0.1
Cereal and bakery products	280.509	282.345	281.465	1.2	0.3	-0.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	242.066	244.064	243.047	-0.8	0.4	-0.4
Dairy and related products	220.435	219.642	220.224	-0.1	-0.1	0.3
Fruits and vegetables	282.523	284.617	283.586	-0.5	0.4	-0.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	166.934	166.842	168.573	2.2	1.0	1.0
Other food at home	210.788	210.251	209.420	0.0	-0.6	-0.4
Food away from home	284.053	284.385	285.022	3.2	0.3	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	236.610	237.757	238.416	2.9	0.8	0.3
Housing	244.805	245.364	245.324	2.8	0.2	0.0
Shelter	282.573	283.058	283.383	3.2	0.3	0.1
Rent of primary residence	294.996	295.659	296.843	3.5	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	283.865	284.649	285.297	3.2	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	283.870	284.657	285.306	3.2	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities	240.276	242.012	241.333	0.4	0.4	-0.3
Household energy	193.370	194.951	194.026	-0.1	0.3	-0.5
Energy services	193.668	195.334	194.480	0.1	0.4	-0.4
Electricity	192.670	194.543	193.267	0.1	0.3	-0.7
Utility (piped) gas service	183.978	184.077	186.213	0.4	1.2	1.2
Household furnishings and operations	125.599	125.685	124.888	2.6	-0.6	-0.6
Apparel	133.527	131.962	133.148	2.0	-0.3	0.9
Transportation	210.716	212.724	209.909	-2.2	-0.4	-1.3
Private transportation	209.434	211.737	208.988	-2.3	-0.2	-1.3
New and used motor vehicles(2)	102.289	102.721	102.880	0.2	0.6	0.2
New vehicles	153.715	153.361	153.058	-0.4	-0.4	-0.2
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.643	104.396	104.190	-0.4	-0.4	-0.2
New cars(3)	153.831	153.438	153.136	0.0	-0.5	-0.2
Used cars and trucks	141.785	143.788	145.103	1.8	2.3	0.9
Motor fuel	219.998	227.170	214.791	-10.3	-2.4	-5.4
Gasoline (all types)	218.734	226.040	213.538	-10.4	-2.4	-5.5
Unleaded regular(3)	213.270	220.592	207.977	-10.7	-2.5	-5.7
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	242.758	250.147	238.442	-8.7	-1.8	-4.7
Unleaded premium(3)	241.315	247.567	237.503	-7.9	-1.6	-4.1
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	948.277	951.188	951.189	0.7	0.3	0.0
Medical care	470.823	472.693	475.283	2.8	0.9	0.5
Medical care commodities	355.674	357.008	357.260	-2.3	0.4	0.1
Medical care services	509.713	511.765	515.165	4.1	1.1	0.7
Professional services	366.162	366.081	366.642	0.5	0.1	0.2
Recreation(2)	119.903	119.585	120.379	1.6	0.4	0.7
Education and communication(2)	132.851	132.881	133.022	0.1	0.1	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,334.325	1,337.155	1,343.441	2.2	0.7	0.5
Other goods and services	429.206	430.820	431.284	1.2	0.5	0.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	246.515	247.250	246.953	1.4	0.2	-0.1
Commodities	184.721	185.556	184.500	-0.5	-0.1	-0.6
Commodities less food and beverages	151.894	152.777	151.369	-1.7	-0.3	-0.9
Nondurables less food and beverages	199.459	201.217	197.940	-3.3	-0.8	-1.6
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	240.140	243.673	237.980	-4.7	-0.9	-2.3
Durables	108.178	108.433	108.325	0.2	0.1	-0.1
Services	308.723	309.341	309.856	2.6	0.4	0.2
Rent of shelter(1)	290.195	290.719	291.075	3.3	0.3	0.1
Transportation services	361.128	361.192	360.385	0.8	-0.2	-0.2
Other services	344.677	344.499	345.916	1.2	0.4	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.265	234.940	234.502	1.2	0.1	-0.2
All items less food	244.857	245.621	245.269	1.4	0.2	-0.1
All items less shelter	233.494	234.326	233.793	0.6	0.1	-0.2
Commodities less food	154.478	155.372	154.002	-1.5	-0.3	-0.9
Nondurables	225.494	226.716	224.984	-0.8	-0.2	-0.8
Nondurables less food	201.337	203.063	199.989	-2.9	-0.7	-1.5
Nondurables less food and apparel	238.702	242.033	236.860	-4.1	-0.8	-2.1
Services less rent of shelter(1)	341.725	342.479	343.204	1.9	0.4	0.2
Services less medical care services	290.585	291.088	291.376	2.4	0.3	0.1
Energy	201.518	205.779	199.306	-5.7	-1.1	-3.1
All items less energy	252.362	252.700	253.101	2.1	0.3	0.2
All items less food and energy	252.205	252.511	252.968	2.2	0.3	0.2
Commodities less food and energy commodities	146.715	146.750	146.912	0.5	0.1	0.1
Energy commodities	223.645	230.758	218.307	-10.2	-2.4	-5.4
Services less energy services	320.880	321.382	322.047	2.8	0.4	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.