The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South was unchanged in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Since August, the energy index declined 0.5 percent, while the food index inched up 0.1 percent. The all items less food and energy index was unchanged from August to September. (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 1.3 percent from September 2018 to September 2019. Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.1 percent and the food index rose 1.6 percent. The energy index declined 5.5 percent over the 12-month period. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index was little changed from August to September, up 0.1 percent. The food at home index and the food away from home index each inched up 0.1 percent over the month.

The food index rose 1.6 percent for the 12 months ending September 2019, led by a 3.1-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index edged up 0.3 percent over the 12-month period.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.5 percent in September, reflecting declines in the gasoline (-1.2 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (-2.6 percent) indexes. Since August, the electricity index was up 0.5 percent.

The energy index was down 5.5 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting an 11.4-percent drop in the gasoline index. Since September 2018, the electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes increased, up 1.8 and 3.2 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in September. Several categories recorded increases, most notably shelter (0.3 percent), apparel (0.8 percent), and recreation (0.3 percent). In contrast, new and used motor vehicles was among the indexes that declined from August to September, down 1.5 percent.  

Since September 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent, reflecting increases in the shelter (3.3 percent) and medical care (2.9 percent) indexes.

Geographic divisions

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

Over the year, the all items index advanced 1.7 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	-0.1	1.4
September	-0.2	-0.4	0.2	1.4	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3
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 October 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, November 13, 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-
	Jul. 2019	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019	Sep. 2018	Jul. 2019	Aug. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	247.250	246.953	246.891	1.3	-0.1	0.0
All items (December 1977=100)	401.075	400.593	400.492	-	-	-
Food and beverages	254.928	255.037	255.288	1.6	0.1	0.1
Food	256.133	256.205	256.510	1.6	0.1	0.1
Food at home	238.910	238.578	238.910	0.3	0.0	0.1
Cereal and bakery products	282.345	281.465	281.594	1.1	-0.3	0.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	244.064	243.047	243.099	-0.3	-0.4	0.0
Dairy and related products	219.642	220.224	222.735	1.5	1.4	1.1
Fruits and vegetables	284.617	283.586	282.107	-1.2	-0.9	-0.5
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	166.842	168.573	168.817	2.1	1.2	0.1
Other food at home	210.251	209.420	210.160	0.0	0.0	0.4
Food away from home	284.385	285.022	285.294	3.1	0.3	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	237.757	238.416	237.871	2.1	0.0	-0.2
Housing	245.364	245.324	245.823	3.0	0.2	0.2
Shelter	283.058	283.383	284.117	3.3	0.4	0.3
Rent of primary residence	295.659	296.843	297.531	3.5	0.6	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	284.649	285.297	285.990	3.2	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	284.657	285.306	286.002	3.2	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities	242.012	241.333	241.672	1.8	-0.1	0.1
Household energy	194.951	194.026	194.374	1.8	-0.3	0.2
Energy services	195.334	194.480	194.743	2.0	-0.3	0.1
Electricity	194.543	193.267	194.256	1.8	-0.1	0.5
Utility (piped) gas service	184.077	186.213	181.434	3.2	-1.4	-2.6
Household furnishings and operations	125.685	124.888	124.737	2.6	-0.8	-0.1
Apparel	131.962	133.148	134.259	-0.8	1.7	0.8
Transportation	212.724	209.909	207.983	-2.3	-2.2	-0.9
Private transportation	211.737	208.988	206.900	-2.5	-2.3	-1.0
New and used motor vehicles(2)	102.721	102.880	101.315	0.4	-1.4	-1.5
New vehicles	153.361	153.058	152.668	-0.2	-0.5	-0.3
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.396	104.190	103.923	-0.3	-0.5	-0.3
New cars(3)	153.438	153.136	152.473	0.0	-0.6	-0.4
Used cars and trucks	143.788	145.103	139.853	2.4	-2.7	-3.6
Motor fuel	227.170	214.791	212.291	-11.3	-6.5	-1.2
Gasoline (all types)	226.040	213.538	210.978	-11.4	-6.7	-1.2
Unleaded regular(3)	220.592	207.977	205.364	-11.7	-6.9	-1.3
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	250.147	238.442	236.591	-9.6	-5.4	-0.8
Unleaded premium(3)	247.567	237.503	235.626	-8.6	-4.8	-0.8
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	951.188	951.189	951.142	0.5	0.0	0.0
Medical care	472.693	475.283	475.494	2.9	0.6	0.0
Medical care commodities	357.008	357.260	354.010	-2.8	-0.8	-0.9
Medical care services	511.765	515.165	516.589	4.3	0.9	0.3
Professional services	366.081	366.642	366.900	0.8	0.2	0.1
Recreation(2)	119.585	120.379	120.782	1.5	1.0	0.3
Education and communication(2)	132.881	133.022	132.870	-0.4	0.0	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,337.155	1,343.441	1,349.055	2.0	0.9	0.4
Other goods and services	430.820	431.284	431.693	1.2	0.2	0.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	247.250	246.953	246.891	1.3	-0.1	0.0
Commodities	185.556	184.500	183.791	-0.8	-1.0	-0.4
Commodities less food and beverages	152.777	151.369	150.362	-2.1	-1.6	-0.7
Nondurables less food and beverages	201.217	197.940	197.309	-4.3	-1.9	-0.3
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	243.673	237.980	236.430	-5.2	-3.0	-0.7
Durables	108.433	108.325	107.175	0.5	-1.2	-1.1
Services	309.341	309.856	310.484	2.7	0.4	0.2
Rent of shelter(1)	290.719	291.075	291.841	3.3	0.4	0.3
Transportation services	361.192	360.385	360.405	0.8	-0.2	0.0
Other services	344.499	345.916	346.447	0.8	0.6	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.940	234.502	234.426	1.2	-0.2	0.0
All items less food	245.621	245.269	245.153	1.3	-0.2	0.0
All items less shelter	234.326	233.793	233.429	0.5	-0.4	-0.2
Commodities less food	155.372	154.002	153.001	-2.0	-1.5	-0.6
Nondurables	226.716	224.984	224.757	-1.3	-0.9	-0.1
Nondurables less food	203.063	199.989	199.364	-3.9	-1.8	-0.3
Nondurables less food and apparel	242.033	236.860	235.395	-4.7	-2.7	-0.6
Services less rent of shelter(1)	342.479	343.204	343.686	2.1	0.4	0.1
Services less medical care services	291.088	291.376	291.938	2.5	0.3	0.2
Energy	205.779	199.306	198.260	-5.5	-3.7	-0.5
All items less energy	252.700	253.101	253.150	2.0	0.2	0.0
All items less food and energy	252.511	252.968	252.974	2.1	0.2	0.0
Commodities less food and energy commodities	146.750	146.912	146.094	0.2	-0.4	-0.6
Energy commodities	230.758	218.307	215.901	-11.2	-6.4	-1.1
Services less energy services	321.382	322.047	322.715	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.