The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.3 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Since December, the all items less food and energy index rose 0.3 percent. The food and the energy indexes also increased over the month, up 0.4 and 0.3 percent, respectively. (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 2.3 percent since January 2019. The all items less food and energy index rose 1.9 percent over the past year, and the energy index advanced 6.7 percent. The food index rose 1.5 percent over the last 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.4 percent in January, reflecting over-the-month increases in the food at home (0.5 percent) and the food away from home (0.2 percent) indexes.

The food index rose 1.5 percent for the 12 months ending January, led by a 2.7-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index rose 0.5 percent over the last 12 months.  

Energy

The energy index edged up 0.3 percent in January, led by a 0.6-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes were little changed over the month, up 0.1 percent each.   

The energy index advanced 6.7 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting a 14.6-percent increase in the gasoline index. Since January 2019, the electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes declined, down 0.5 and 1.5 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.3 percent in January. Several indexes increased over the month, most notably shelter (0.4 percent), new vehicles (1.2 percent), and medical care services (0.5 percent).  

Since January 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.9 percent, reflecting increases in the shelter (3.2 percent) and the medical care services (4.6 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 0.3 percent in the South Atlantic and the East South Central divisions. The all items index in the West South Central division rose 0.2 percent.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 2.6 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 1.9 percent in the West South Central division and 1.6 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	2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	2.6	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3
February	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1
March	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6
April	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8
May	0.0	1.7	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4
June	0.2	1.5	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4
August	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4
September	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3
October	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3
November	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6
December	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1

The Consumer Price Index for February 2020 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 11, 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-
	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019	Jan. 2020	Jan. 2019	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	247.385	247.289	248.005	2.3	0.3	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	401.294	401.138	402.298	-	-	-
Food and beverages	255.776	256.354	257.296	1.5	0.6	0.4
Food	256.969	257.576	258.570	1.5	0.6	0.4
Food at home	238.834	239.527	240.809	0.5	0.8	0.5
Cereal and bakery products	279.565	280.214	280.071	-0.1	0.2	-0.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	244.012	248.173	247.533	2.7	1.4	-0.3
Dairy and related products	223.523	222.108	222.527	1.0	-0.4	0.2
Fruits and vegetables	280.345	281.310	286.252	-2.1	2.1	1.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	168.211	167.472	170.384	0.2	1.3	1.7
Other food at home	210.944	210.370	210.989	0.4	0.0	0.3
Food away from home	286.511	287.006	287.598	2.7	0.4	0.2
Alcoholic beverages	238.777	238.943	239.176	1.8	0.2	0.1
Housing	246.137	246.438	247.349	2.7	0.5	0.4
Shelter	285.140	285.654	286.674	3.2	0.5	0.4
Rent of primary residence	299.082	299.871	300.887	3.6	0.6	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	287.559	288.027	288.886	3.3	0.5	0.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	287.570	288.040	288.902	3.3	0.5	0.3
Fuels and utilities	237.440	237.938	238.495	0.1	0.4	0.2
Household energy	189.621	190.134	190.264	-0.6	0.3	0.1
Energy services	189.789	190.225	190.381	-0.7	0.3	0.1
Electricity	187.802	188.048	188.198	-0.5	0.2	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service	187.283	188.995	189.182	-1.5	1.0	0.1
Household furnishings and operations	125.513	125.034	125.774	1.8	0.2	0.6
Apparel	133.525	129.315	128.299	-2.6	-3.9	-0.8
Transportation	207.692	207.452	207.755	2.9	0.0	0.1
Private transportation	206.267	206.548	207.100	3.0	0.4	0.3
New and used motor vehicles(2)	100.756	100.868	101.036	-1.2	0.3	0.2
New vehicles	151.651	152.124	153.955	-0.3	1.5	1.2
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	103.234	103.564	104.814	-0.3	1.5	1.2
New cars(3)	151.365	151.604	153.055	-0.8	1.1	1.0
Used cars and trucks	138.809	138.559	137.395	-2.2	-1.0	-0.8
Motor fuel	210.160	210.672	211.955	14.3	0.9	0.6
Gasoline (all types)	208.794	209.311	210.572	14.6	0.9	0.6
Unleaded regular(3)	203.138	203.729	204.955	15.0	0.9	0.6
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	234.340	234.729	236.246	12.9	0.8	0.6
Unleaded premium(3)	234.143	233.899	235.303	12.0	0.5	0.6
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	958.554	961.078	962.096	0.6	0.4	0.1
Medical care	478.888	479.724	481.849	3.4	0.6	0.4
Medical care commodities	353.018	352.266	353.095	-1.5	0.0	0.2
Medical care services	521.509	522.899	525.462	4.6	0.8	0.5
Professional services	366.907	366.873	367.264	0.6	0.1	0.1
Recreation(2)	121.814	121.445	121.506	1.0	-0.3	0.1
Education and communication(2)	133.564	133.445	133.885	1.3	0.2	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,356.704	1,355.934	1,358.483	2.8	0.1	0.2
Other goods and services	434.117	433.843	436.000	1.9	0.4	0.5
Commodity and service group
All Items	247.385	247.289	248.005	2.3	0.3	0.3
Commodities	183.514	183.096	183.681	1.5	0.1	0.3
Commodities less food and beverages	149.835	149.092	149.525	1.5	-0.2	0.3
Nondurables less food and beverages	196.646	194.993	195.344	3.7	-0.7	0.2
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	235.782	235.394	236.495	5.7	0.3	0.5
Durables	106.780	106.677	107.109	-1.0	0.3	0.4
Services	311.792	312.040	312.883	2.7	0.3	0.3
Rent of shelter(1)	292.910	293.445	294.537	3.3	0.6	0.4
Transportation services	364.717	362.239	360.144	0.8	-1.3	-0.6
Other services	349.212	349.533	350.520	1.9	0.4	0.3
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	234.775	234.633	235.275	2.1	0.2	0.3
All items less food	245.652	245.451	246.123	2.4	0.2	0.3
All items less shelter	233.725	233.397	233.998	1.8	0.1	0.3
Commodities less food	152.502	151.776	152.205	1.5	-0.2	0.3
Nondurables	224.621	223.988	224.621	2.5	0.0	0.3
Nondurables less food	198.782	197.223	197.567	3.6	-0.6	0.2
Nondurables less food and apparel	234.870	234.527	235.545	5.3	0.3	0.4
Services less rent of shelter(1)	345.329	345.237	345.797	2.2	0.1	0.2
Services less medical care services	292.956	293.114	293.816	2.5	0.3	0.2
Energy	194.900	195.400	196.064	6.7	0.6	0.3
All items less energy	254.082	253.918	254.643	1.9	0.2	0.3
All items less food and energy	253.987	253.692	254.372	1.9	0.2	0.3
Commodities less food and energy commodities	145.804	144.884	145.218	-0.8	-0.4	0.2
Energy commodities	213.866	214.464	215.720	14.1	0.9	0.6
Services less energy services	324.710	324.937	325.851	3.0	0.4	0.3
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.