The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South edged up 0.2 percent in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Since September, the all items less food and energy index and the food index each rose 0.3 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 0.6 percent over the month. (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 October 2018 to October 2019. Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.1 percent and the food index rose 1.9 percent. The energy index declined 6.2 percent over the 12-month period. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.3 percent from September to October, led by a 0.5-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index was little changed over the month, up 0.1 percent.

The food index rose 1.9 percent for the 12 months ending October 2019, reflecting increases in the food away from home (3.3 percent) and the food at home (0.8 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index declined 0.6 percent from September to October. The electricity index fell 1.9 percent over the month, while the utility (piped) gas service index rose 2.8 percent. The gasoline index was little changed in October, up 0.1 percent over the month.  

The energy index fell 6.2 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting a 12.4-percent drop in the gasoline index. Since October 2018, the electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes increased, up 1.6 and 3.4 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.3 percent in October. Several categories recorded increases, most notably shelter (0.2 percent), recreation (0.6 percent), and household furnishings and operations (0.7 percent). In contrast, apparel was among the indexes that declined from September to October, down 1.0 percent.  

Since October 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.1 percent, reflecting increases in the shelter (3.1 percent) and medical care (3.2 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 increased 0.2 percent in both the South Atlantic and the West South Central divisions. The all items index in the East South Central division rose 0.1 percent.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 1.8 percent in the South Atlantic division and increased 1.0 percent in the West South Central division. The all items index in the East South Central division was little changed, up 0.2 percent over the last 12 months.

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	0.2	1.3
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 November 2019 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, December 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.

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-
	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Oct. 2018	Aug. 2019	Sep. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	246.953	246.891	247.423	1.3	0.2	0.2
All items (December 1977=100)	400.593	400.492	401.354	-	-	-
Food and beverages	255.037	255.288	256.171	2.0	0.4	0.3
Food	256.205	256.510	257.388	1.9	0.5	0.3
Food at home	238.578	238.910	240.171	0.8	0.7	0.5
Cereal and bakery products	281.465	281.594	282.606	1.7	0.4	0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	243.047	243.099	245.609	1.2	1.1	1.0
Dairy and related products	220.224	222.735	223.121	1.9	1.3	0.2
Fruits and vegetables	283.586	282.107	284.349	-0.3	0.3	0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	168.573	168.817	168.471	0.6	-0.1	-0.2
Other food at home	209.420	210.160	211.199	0.5	0.8	0.5
Food away from home	285.022	285.294	285.649	3.3	0.2	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	238.416	237.871	238.832	2.2	0.2	0.4
Housing	245.324	245.823	246.044	3.0	0.3	0.1
Shelter	283.383	284.117	284.575	3.1	0.4	0.2
Rent of primary residence	296.843	297.531	298.053	3.4	0.4	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	285.297	285.990	286.876	3.3	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	285.306	286.002	286.885	3.3	0.6	0.3
Fuels and utilities	241.333	241.672	239.578	1.8	-0.7	-0.9
Household energy	194.026	194.374	191.880	1.7	-1.1	-1.3
Energy services	194.480	194.743	192.120	1.8	-1.2	-1.3
Electricity	193.267	194.256	190.541	1.6	-1.4	-1.9
Utility (piped) gas service	186.213	181.434	186.591	3.4	0.2	2.8
Household furnishings and operations	124.888	124.737	125.581	3.0	0.6	0.7
Apparel	133.148	134.259	132.967	-3.5	-0.1	-1.0
Transportation	209.909	207.983	208.663	-2.7	-0.6	0.3
Private transportation	208.988	206.900	207.334	-2.9	-0.8	0.2
New and used motor vehicles(2)	102.880	101.315	101.221	0.1	-1.6	-0.1
New vehicles	153.058	152.668	152.337	-0.1	-0.5	-0.2
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	104.190	103.923	103.700	-0.1	-0.5	-0.2
New cars(3)	153.136	152.473	152.286	0.1	-0.6	-0.1
Used cars and trucks	145.103	139.853	139.689	1.3	-3.7	-0.1
Motor fuel	214.791	212.291	212.504	-12.3	-1.1	0.1
Gasoline (all types)	213.538	210.978	211.143	-12.4	-1.1	0.1
Unleaded regular(3)	207.977	205.364	205.551	-12.8	-1.2	0.1
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	238.442	236.591	236.142	-10.2	-1.0	-0.2
Unleaded premium(3)	237.503	235.626	235.698	-9.3	-0.8	0.0
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	951.189	951.142	960.817	0.5	1.0	1.0
Medical care	475.283	475.494	476.689	3.2	0.3	0.3
Medical care commodities	357.260	354.010	352.780	-2.2	-1.3	-0.3
Medical care services	515.165	516.589	518.629	4.6	0.7	0.4
Professional services	366.642	366.900	366.878	0.9	0.1	0.0
Recreation(2)	120.379	120.782	121.488	2.5	0.9	0.6
Education and communication(2)	133.022	132.870	133.408	0.1	0.3	0.4
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,343.441	1,349.055	1,356.623	2.2	1.0	0.6
Other goods and services	431.284	431.693	434.357	1.4	0.7	0.6
Commodity and service group
All Items	246.953	246.891	247.423	1.3	0.2	0.2
Commodities	184.500	183.791	184.051	-0.9	-0.2	0.1
Commodities less food and beverages	151.369	150.362	150.395	-2.6	-0.6	0.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	197.940	197.309	197.173	-5.1	-0.4	-0.1
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	237.980	236.430	236.886	-5.5	-0.5	0.2
Durables	108.325	107.175	107.310	0.5	-0.9	0.1
Services	309.856	310.484	311.297	2.8	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(1)	291.075	291.841	292.317	3.2	0.4	0.2
Transportation services	360.385	360.405	364.562	1.1	1.2	1.2
Other services	345.916	346.447	348.219	1.4	0.7	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.502	234.426	234.923	1.2	0.2	0.2
All items less food	245.269	245.153	245.633	1.2	0.1	0.2
All items less shelter	233.793	233.429	233.991	0.5	0.1	0.2
Commodities less food	154.002	153.001	153.053	-2.4	-0.6	0.0
Nondurables	224.984	224.757	225.089	-1.5	0.0	0.1
Nondurables less food	199.989	199.364	199.284	-4.6	-0.4	0.0
Nondurables less food and apparel	236.860	235.395	235.888	-4.9	-0.4	0.2
Services less rent of shelter(1)	343.204	343.686	344.936	2.4	0.5	0.4
Services less medical care services	291.376	291.938	292.649	2.6	0.4	0.2
Energy	199.306	198.260	197.145	-6.2	-1.1	-0.6
All items less energy	253.101	253.150	253.870	2.1	0.3	0.3
All items less food and energy	252.968	252.974	253.668	2.1	0.3	0.3
Commodities less food and energy commodities	146.912	146.094	146.116	-0.1	-0.5	0.0
Energy commodities	218.307	215.901	216.185	-12.2	-1.0	0.1
Services less energy services	322.047	322.715	323.905	2.9	0.6	0.4
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.