The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell rose 0.1 percent from October to December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the energy index increased 1.8 percent since October, while the food index rose 0.7 percent over the bi-monthly period. In contrast, the index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent from October to December. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U increased 1.6 percent for the 12 months ending in December. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent over the year, while the food index advanced 3.7 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 5.9 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.7 percent from October to December, reflecting a 0.7-percent increase in both the food at home and the food away from home indexes.

The food index advanced 3.7 percent for the 12 months ending in December, reflecting increases in the food at home (4.6 percent) and food away from home (2.8 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.8 percent from October to December. The gasoline index increased 1.5 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the electricity index was unchanged from October.

The energy index fell 5.9 percent for the 12 months ending in December, reflecting a 16.2-percent drop in the gasoline index. In contrast, the electricity index rose 4.0 percent over the past 12 months.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent from October to December. Among the indexes to decline over the bi-monthly period include used cars and trucks (-2.7 percent) and apparel (-2.0 percent). Shelter (0.4 percent) and education and communication (1.4 percent) were among the indexes to increase from October to December.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.0 percent for the 12 months ending in December. Several indexes contributed to the increase, most notably shelter (2.2 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 7.8 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (9.2 percent) and new vehicles (7.9 percent) indexes. In contrast, the medical care index declined 1.0 percent over the past year.

Table A. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.3	1.6	1.2	3.5	1.2	3.3	1.2	1.3	0.8	2.9
April	1.0	1.9	0.6	3.2	0.2	2.8	1.4	2.5	-1.8	-0.3
June	1.3	0.7	1.3	3.2	1.2	2.8	-0.1	1.1	1.1	0.9
August	0.5	1.2	0.8	3.5	0.3	2.2	1.3	2.2	1.2	0.7
October	-0.1	2.4	-0.3	3.2	-1.0	1.6	-0.2	3.0	0.3	1.2
December	-0.4	2.6	-0.4	3.2	-0.6	1.4	-0.3	3.3	0.1	1.6

The Consumer Price Index for January 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

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 6,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties in Georgia.

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