The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South was unchanged in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy was little changed in November, up 0.1 percent. The energy index declined 1.1 percent in November and the food index edged down 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 1.6 percent from November 2018 to November 2019. Over the year, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.0 percent and the food index rose 1.7 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 2.4 percent over the last 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged down 0.2 percent in November, reflecting a 0.6-percent decrease in the food at home index. The food away from home index edged up 0.3 percent in November.

The food index rose 1.7 percent for the 12 months ending November 2019, led by a 3.3-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index edged up 0.3 percent over the last 12 months.  

Energy

The energy index declined 1.1 percent in November, reflecting decreases in the electricity (-1.4 percent) and gasoline (-1.1 percent) indexes. The utility (piped) gas service index rose 0.4 percent in November.

The energy index fell 2.4 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting a 4.5-percent drop in the gasoline index. Since November 2018, the utility (piped) gas service and the electricity indexes increased, up 1.2 and 0.2 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was little changed over the month, up 0.1 percent in November. Increases in the shelter (0.2 percent) and medical care (0.5 percent) indexes were largely offset by declines in the new and used motor vehicles (-0.5 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-0.2 percent) indexes.  

Since November 2018, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.0 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 was little changed in the South Atlantic and East South Central divisions, up 0.1 percent each. The all items index in the West South Central division edged down 0.2 percent in November.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 2.0 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 1.3 percent in the West South Central division and 0.7 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	0.2	1.3
November	-0.2	0.3	-0.1	1.6	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6
December	-0.4	0.5	0.1	2.0	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5

The Consumer Price Index for December 2019 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

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-
	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Nov. 2018	Sep. 2019	Oct. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	246.891	247.423	247.385	1.6	0.2	0.0
All items (December 1977=100)	400.492	401.354	401.294	-	-	-
Food and beverages	255.288	256.171	255.776	1.6	0.2	-0.2
Food	256.510	257.388	256.969	1.7	0.2	-0.2
Food at home	238.910	240.171	238.834	0.3	0.0	-0.6
Cereal and bakery products	281.594	282.606	279.565	0.3	-0.7	-1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	243.099	245.609	244.012	0.7	0.4	-0.7
Dairy and related products	222.735	223.121	223.523	1.2	0.4	0.2
Fruits and vegetables	282.107	284.349	280.345	-1.7	-0.6	-1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	168.817	168.471	168.211	1.8	-0.4	-0.2
Other food at home	210.160	211.199	210.944	0.3	0.4	-0.1
Food away from home	285.294	285.649	286.511	3.3	0.4	0.3
Alcoholic beverages	237.871	238.832	238.777	1.3	0.4	0.0
Housing	245.823	246.044	246.137	2.7	0.1	0.0
Shelter	284.117	284.575	285.140	3.1	0.4	0.2
Rent of primary residence	297.531	298.053	299.082	3.3	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	285.990	286.876	287.559	3.1	0.5	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	286.002	286.885	287.570	3.1	0.5	0.2
Fuels and utilities	241.672	239.578	237.440	0.2	-1.8	-0.9
Household energy	194.374	191.880	189.621	0.2	-2.4	-1.2
Energy services	194.743	192.120	189.789	0.3	-2.5	-1.2
Electricity	194.256	190.541	187.802	0.2	-3.3	-1.4
Utility (piped) gas service	181.434	186.591	187.283	1.2	3.2	0.4
Household furnishings and operations	124.737	125.581	125.513	2.6	0.6	-0.1
Apparel	134.259	132.967	133.525	-0.9	-0.5	0.4
Transportation	207.983	208.663	207.692	-1.0	-0.1	-0.5
Private transportation	206.900	207.334	206.267	-1.1	-0.3	-0.5
New and used motor vehicles(2)	101.315	101.221	100.756	-0.8	-0.6	-0.5
New vehicles	152.668	152.337	151.651	-0.5	-0.7	-0.5
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	103.923	103.700	103.234	-0.6	-0.7	-0.4
New cars(3)	152.473	152.286	151.365	-0.6	-0.7	-0.6
Used cars and trucks	139.853	139.689	138.809	-0.7	-0.7	-0.6
Motor fuel	212.291	212.504	210.160	-4.6	-1.0	-1.1
Gasoline (all types)	210.978	211.143	208.794	-4.5	-1.0	-1.1
Unleaded regular(3)	205.364	205.551	203.138	-4.7	-1.1	-1.2
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	236.591	236.142	234.340	-3.4	-1.0	-0.8
Unleaded premium(3)	235.626	235.698	234.143	-2.9	-0.6	-0.7
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	951.142	960.817	958.554	0.2	0.8	-0.2
Medical care	475.494	476.689	478.888	3.2	0.7	0.5
Medical care commodities	354.010	352.780	353.018	-2.1	-0.3	0.1
Medical care services	516.589	518.629	521.509	4.5	1.0	0.6
Professional services	366.900	366.878	366.907	0.8	0.0	0.0
Recreation(2)	120.782	121.488	121.814	2.3	0.9	0.3
Education and communication(2)	132.870	133.408	133.564	0.8	0.5	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,349.055	1,356.623	1,356.704	2.2	0.6	0.0
Other goods and services	431.693	434.357	434.117	1.2	0.6	-0.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	246.891	247.423	247.385	1.6	0.2	0.0
Commodities	183.791	184.051	183.514	-0.1	-0.2	-0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	150.362	150.395	149.835	-1.0	-0.4	-0.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	197.309	197.173	196.646	-1.7	-0.3	-0.3
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	236.430	236.886	235.782	-1.9	-0.3	-0.5
Durables	107.175	107.310	106.780	-0.3	-0.4	-0.5
Services	310.484	311.297	311.792	2.7	0.4	0.2
Rent of shelter(1)	291.841	292.317	292.910	3.1	0.4	0.2
Transportation services	360.405	364.562	364.717	1.0	1.2	0.0
Other services	346.447	348.219	349.212	1.6	0.8	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.426	234.923	234.775	1.4	0.1	-0.1
All items less food	245.153	245.633	245.652	1.6	0.2	0.0
All items less shelter	233.429	233.991	233.725	0.9	0.1	-0.1
Commodities less food	153.001	153.053	152.502	-1.0	-0.3	-0.4
Nondurables	224.757	225.089	224.621	0.0	-0.1	-0.2
Nondurables less food	199.364	199.284	198.782	-1.5	-0.3	-0.3
Nondurables less food and apparel	235.395	235.888	234.870	-1.7	-0.2	-0.4
Services less rent of shelter(1)	343.686	344.936	345.329	2.2	0.5	0.1
Services less medical care services	291.938	292.649	292.956	2.4	0.3	0.1
Energy	198.260	197.145	194.900	-2.4	-1.7	-1.1
All items less energy	253.150	253.870	254.082	2.0	0.4	0.1
All items less food and energy	252.974	253.668	253.987	2.0	0.4	0.1
Commodities less food and energy commodities	146.094	146.116	145.804	-0.2	-0.2	-0.2
Energy commodities	215.901	216.185	213.866	-4.6	-0.9	-1.1
Services less energy services	322.715	323.905	324.710	2.8	0.6	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.