The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.9 percent in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.8 percent over the month, while the energy index and the food index rose 1.7 percent and 0.9 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 advanced 5.8 percent for the 12 months ending in June, after increasing 5.6-percent over the 12 month period ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.0 percent over the past year, while the energy index jumped 24.7 percent. The food index rose 1.9 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.9 percent in June. The food at home and the food away from home indexes each increased over the month, up 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. 

The food index rose 1.9 percent for the 12 months ending in June, led by a 3.6 percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the year, up 0.6 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 1.7 percent in June, reflecting increases in the electricity (2.3 percent), gasoline (1.2 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (1.4 percent) indexes.

The energy index jumped 24.7 percent for the 12 months ending in June, reflecting a 49.8-percent spike in the gasoline index. The electricity and utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the year, up 3.3 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in June. Several indexes increased over the month, most notably, new and used motor vehicles (5.4 percent)—reflecting a 10.8-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index. The shelter index rose 0.4 percent in June, while the recreation index declined 0.8 percent over the month.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.0 percent for the 12 months ending in June, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index jumped 20.8 percent over the past year, led by a 44.5-percent spike in the used cars and trucks index. Shelter (3.1 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 increased 0.9 percent in the South Atlantic and the East South Central divisions in June. The all items index in the West South Central division rose 0.8 percent over the past month.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.3 percent in the East South Central division. The all items index rose 5.8 percent in the West South Central division and 5.6 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	0.9	5.8
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 July 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, August 11, 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.

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-
	Apr. 2021	May 2021	Jun. 2021	Jun. 2020	Apr. 2021	May 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	257.207	259.343	261.668	5.8	1.7	0.9
All items (December 1977=100)	417.225	420.690	424.463	-	-	-
Food and beverages	267.864	268.505	270.730	1.9	1.1	0.8
Food	269.430	270.230	272.556	1.9	1.2	0.9
Food at home	252.429	252.843	255.234	0.6	1.1	0.9
Cereal and bakery products	291.735	291.991	294.672	1.0	1.0	0.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	265.295	269.414	277.122	0.8	4.5	2.9
Dairy and related products	230.689	230.855	228.537	0.2	-0.9	-1.0
Fruits and vegetables	302.532	303.073	301.215	3.9	-0.4	-0.6
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	173.844	172.614	175.112	-2.1	0.7	1.4
Other food at home	220.016	218.561	220.019	-0.5	0.0	0.7
Food away from home	297.504	298.872	301.136	3.6	1.2	0.8
Alcoholic beverages	245.797	244.295	245.152	1.0	-0.3	0.4
Housing	254.420	255.748	257.154	3.3	1.1	0.5
Shelter	295.035	296.073	297.405	3.1	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence	309.792	310.396	311.589	2.4	0.6	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	297.504	298.219	299.448	2.9	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	297.506	298.223	299.450	2.9	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	245.347	246.614	250.690	4.4	2.2	1.7
Household energy	195.071	196.381	200.682	4.9	2.9	2.2
Energy services	195.060	196.262	200.603	4.6	2.8	2.2
Electricity	191.344	192.467	196.970	3.3	2.9	2.3
Utility (piped) gas service	203.654	205.288	208.196	13.2	2.2	1.4
Household furnishings and operations	128.853	131.044	131.199	4.1	1.8	0.1
Apparel	127.227	128.801	128.858	4.2	1.3	0.0
Transportation	223.261	230.219	237.569	22.5	6.4	3.2
Private transportation	224.089	230.671	238.190	22.7	6.3	3.3
New and used motor vehicles(2)	111.368	115.328	121.568	20.8	9.2	5.4
New vehicles	156.554	158.453	160.462	5.2	2.5	1.3
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	106.589	107.887	109.251	5.2	2.5	1.3
New cars(3)	154.691	156.675	158.225	4.0	2.3	1.0
Used cars and trucks	169.650	180.607	200.075	44.5	17.9	10.8
Motor fuel	237.619	248.189	251.279	49.5	5.7	1.2
Gasoline (all types)	236.444	247.047	250.082	49.8	5.8	1.2
Unleaded regular(3)	230.643	241.252	244.125	51.3	5.8	1.2
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	264.393	274.755	279.156	43.8	5.6	1.6
Unleaded premium(3)	259.787	269.234	273.143	38.7	5.1	1.5
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	953.621	954.337	954.793	12.5	0.1	0.0
Medical care	495.347	494.859	495.772	1.3	0.1	0.2
Medical care commodities	349.242	348.671	348.692	-0.8	-0.2	0.0
Medical care services	544.805	544.344	545.558	1.8	0.1	0.2
Professional services	383.737	383.468	384.060	3.1	0.1	0.2
Recreation(2)	125.196	125.277	124.239	2.4	-0.8	-0.8
Education and communication(2)	136.995	137.255	137.344	2.6	0.3	0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,366.035	1,368.951	1,371.709	0.8	0.4	0.2
Other goods and services	452.159	451.932	452.648	3.0	0.1	0.2
Commodity and service group
All Items	257.207	259.343	261.668	5.8	1.7	0.9
Commodities	193.144	195.860	199.052	9.4	3.1	1.6
Commodities less food and beverages	158.189	161.532	164.935	14.5	4.3	2.1
Nondurables less food and beverages	203.199	206.612	207.436	13.9	2.1	0.4
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	249.379	253.872	255.132	16.8	2.3	0.5
Durables	115.299	118.240	122.750	15.0	6.5	3.8
Services	321.644	323.120	324.473	3.6	0.9	0.4
Rent of shelter(1)	303.298	304.383	305.768	3.1	0.8	0.5
Transportation services	362.159	368.005	371.325	10.7	2.5	0.9
Other services	360.409	360.732	359.842	2.5	-0.2	-0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	244.221	246.476	248.860	6.3	1.9	1.0
All items less food	255.063	257.400	259.723	6.5	1.8	0.9
All items less shelter	243.553	246.118	248.833	7.2	2.2	1.1
Commodities less food	160.849	164.085	167.437	13.9	4.1	2.0
Nondurables	233.759	235.844	237.335	7.0	1.5	0.6
Nondurables less food	205.332	208.445	209.270	12.9	1.9	0.4
Nondurables less food and apparel	247.801	251.732	252.948	15.3	2.1	0.5
Services less rent of shelter(1)	354.842	356.851	358.208	4.1	0.9	0.4
Services less medical care services	301.684	303.298	304.651	3.8	1.0	0.4
Energy	210.474	216.066	219.706	24.7	4.4	1.7
All items less energy	263.378	265.181	267.389	4.5	1.5	0.8
All items less food and energy	262.756	264.734	266.926	5.0	1.6	0.8
Commodities less food and energy commodities	151.883	154.261	157.647	9.1	3.8	2.2
Energy commodities	241.579	252.273	255.411	48.9	5.7	1.2
Services less energy services	335.043	336.548	337.596	3.5	0.8	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.