The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.8 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy also increased 0.8 percent over the month. The energy index increased 2.7 percent in May, while the food index edged up 0.3 percent over the month. (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 advanced 5.6 percent for the 12 months ending in May, after increasing 4.4-percent over the 12 month period ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent over the past year, while the energy index jumped 30.6 percent. The food index rose 1.7 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.3 percent in May. The food away from home and the food at home indexes each increased over the month, up 0.5 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

The food index rose 1.7 percent for the 12 months ending in May, reflecting increases in the food away from home (3.0 percent) and food at home (0.8 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.7 percent in May, led by a 4.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index rose 0.6 percent in May, while the utility (piped) gas service index was up 0.8 percent over the month.

The energy index jumped 30.6 percent for the 12 months ending in May, reflecting a 64.9-percent spike in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the year, up 4.4 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in May. Several indexes increased over the month, including the new and used motor vehicles index, up 3.6 percent—driven by a 6.5-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index. The shelter index rose 0.4 percent in May, while the medical care index declined 0.1 percent over the month.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.3 percent for the 12 months ending in May, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index jumped 14.5 percent over the past year, led by a 29.1 percent sharp increase in the used cars and trucks index. Shelter (2.7 percent) was also among the indexes to increase over the past 12 months.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U advanced 1.1 percent in the East South Central division in May. The all items index rose 0.9 percent in the West South Central division and 0.7 percent in the South Atlantic division.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.0 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index rose 5.5 percent in the West South Central division and 5.2 percent in the South Atlantic 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		2021
	1-month	12-month	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	0.5	1.6
February	0.2	2.8	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0
March	0.0	2.2	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9
April	0.2	2.0	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4
May	0.0	1.7	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6
June	0.2	1.5	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3
July	-0.2	1.6	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6
August	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1
September	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3
October	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3
November	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2
December	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4

The Consumer Price Index for June 2021 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.

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.