The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.2 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The energy index increased 2.1 percent over the month, while the food index inched up 0.1 percent. The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in December. (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 1.4 percent for the 12 months ending December 2020. The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.7 percent over the past year, while the food index advanced 3.5 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 6.9 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index inched up 0.1 percent in December. The food away from home index rose 0.3 percent in December, while the food at home index was unchanged over the month.    

The food index advanced 3.5 percent for the 12 months ending in December, reflecting increases in the food at home (3.7 percent) and food away from home (3.4 percent) indexes.  

Energy

The energy index increased 2.1 percent in December, led by a 4.8-percent increase in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index rose 0.9 percent in December, while the electricity index edged down 0.3 percent over the month.

The energy index declined 6.9 percent for the 12 months ending in December, reflecting a 14.9-percent fall in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes increased over the past year, up 0.7 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in December. Several indexes increased over the month, including motor vehicle insurance (2.5 percent) and shelter (0.1 percent). Among the indexes to decline in December include apparel (-1.3 percent) and used cars and trucks (-1.0 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.7 percent for the 12 months ending in December, led by a 2.1-percent increase in the shelter index. Over the past year, the used cars and trucks index jumped 9.7 percent, while the medical care index advanced 2.1 percent—reflecting a 2.8-percent increase in the medical care services index. Apparel (-4.9 percent) was among the indexes to decline over the year.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. Over the month, the all items CPI-U increased 0.5 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index also increased in the West South Central and South Atlantic divisions in December, up 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 1.7 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index rose 1.6 percent in the South Atlantic division and 0.8 percent in the West South Central division.

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	0.4	1.1
September	0.2	1.4	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3
October	0.1	1.5	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3
November	-0.1	1.6	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2
December	0.1	2.0	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4

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 measures 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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 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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