The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.6 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all item less food and energy rose 0.6 percent from June to July, while the energy index advanced 3.0 percent. The food index declined 0.5 percent in July. (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 rose 0.6 percent for the 12 months ending July 2020. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.2 percent over the past year, while the food index advanced 3.9 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 11.8 percent for the 12 months ending in July. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index declined 0.5 percent in July, reflecting a 1.2-percent decrease in the food at home index. The food away from home index rose 0.4 percent in July.

The food index advanced 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending in July, reflecting increases in the food at home (4.9 percent) and food away from home (2.7 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index advanced 3.0 percent in July, led by a 6.3-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased in July, up 0.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The energy index declined 11.8 percent for the 12 months ending in July, led by a 21.5-percent drop in the gasoline index. The electricity index also declined over the past year, down 1.7 percent. The utility (piped) gas service index rose 1.1 percent over the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in July. Several indexes increased over the month, most notably motor vehicle insurance (9.0 percent) and used cars and trucks (3.2 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July. The shelter index increased 2.2 percent over the 12-month span, and the medical care index rose 3.9 percent. Indexes that declined over the past year include apparel (-7.4 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-2.8 percent).

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U for the East South Central division rose 0.9 percent in July. The all items index for the West South Central and South Atlantic divisions also increased in July, up 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.  

Over the year, the all items index rose 0.9 percent in the South Atlantic division and 0.6 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index for the West South Central division was unchanged over the past year.

Table A. South region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.0	1.2	0.5	2.6	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3
February	0.1	0.7	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9
March	0.6	0.7	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1
April	0.4	0.9	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2
May	0.4	0.9	0.0	1.7	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4
June	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.5	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3
July	-0.2	0.7	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6
August	0.1	1.0	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4
September	0.2	1.4	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3
October	0.1	1.5	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6
December	0.1	2.0	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1

The Consumer Price Index for August 2020 is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 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.

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