The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell increased 1.9 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. The energy index and the food index also increased from February to April, up 7.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U advanced 10.8 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy increased 9.8 over the past year. The energy index (+23.5 percent) and the food index (+9.3 percent) also increased over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 2.2 percent from February to April, led by a 3.1-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 1.1 percent.

The food index jumped 9.3 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The food at home and the food away from home indexes each advanced over the past year, up 9.4 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively.

Energy

The energy index rose 7.6 percent from February to April, reflecting a 14.3-percent increase in the gasoline index.

The energy index rose 23.5 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The gasoline index contributed to the increase, up 40.2 percent over the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent from February to April, led by a 2.0-percent increase in the shelter index. In contrast, the education and communication index declined 2.4 percent over the bi-monthly period.  

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 9.8 percent for the 12 months ending in April. Several indexes contributed to the increase, most notable, shelter (+9.9 percent).

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

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	1.2	3.3	1.2	1.3	0.8	2.9	1.6	2.4	2.3	10.6
April	0.2	2.8	1.4	2.5	-1.8	-0.3	1.6	6.0	1.9	10.8
June	1.2	2.8	-0.1	1.1	1.1	0.9	1.8	6.7
August	0.3	2.2	1.3	2.2	1.2	0.7	1.1	6.6
October	-1.0	1.6	-0.2	3.0	0.3	1.2	1.5	7.9
December	-0.6	1.4	-0.3	3.3	0.1	1.6	1.9	9.8

The Consumer Price Index for May 2022 is scheduled to be released on Friday, June 10, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.

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
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022	Apr. 2022	Apr. 2021	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	279.743	-	284.925	10.8	1.9	-
All items (1967=100)	843.618	-	859.247	-	-	-
Food and beverages	284.255	-	290.222	8.9	2.1	-
Food	298.560	-	305.231	9.3	2.2	-
Food at home	274.651	280.014	283.096	9.4	3.1	1.1
Cereals and bakery products	228.402	-	235.392	6.7	3.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	316.239	-	331.659	11.9	4.9	-
Dairy and related products	251.158	-	242.268	1.8	-3.5	-
Fruits and vegetables	319.516	-	325.914	6.2	2.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	290.030	-	305.963	15.0	5.5	-
Other food at home	235.511	-	243.165	10.1	3.2	-
Food away from home	336.596	-	340.431	9.0	1.1	-
Alcoholic beverages	158.642	-	159.005	2.2	0.2	-
Housing	287.546	-	292.048	9.3	1.6	-
Shelter	319.920	322.781	326.384	9.9	2.0	1.1
Rent of primary residence	337.027	337.849	341.221	10.0	1.2	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	314.173	316.178	319.701	10.2	1.8	1.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	314.173	316.178	319.701	10.2	1.8	1.1
Fuels and utilities	333.896	-	-	-	-	-
Household energy	282.270	281.920	-	-	-	-
Energy Services	280.025	279.393	-	-	-	-
Electricity	225.007	225.007	-	-	-	-
Utility (piped) gas service	-	-	-	-	-	-
Household furnishings and operations	142.319	-	142.602	7.1	0.2	-
Apparel	161.284	-	159.388	13.3	-1.2	-
Transportation	266.286	-	279.332	24.4	4.9	-
Private transportation	271.756	-	281.796	24.4	3.7	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	140.911	-	141.523	-	0.4	-
New vehicles(1)	287.347	-	291.412	-	1.4	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	319.189	-	311.211	22.1	-2.5	-
Motor fuel	293.160	359.349	335.758	40.6	14.5	-6.6
Gasoline (all types)	291.052	356.582	332.733	40.2	14.3	-6.7
Unleaded regular(4)	285.743	350.905	326.739	40.6	14.3	-6.9
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	363.583	440.635	416.373	40.6	14.5	-5.5
Unleaded premium(4)	308.779	371.231	352.204	36.3	14.1	-5.1
Medical Care	-	-	-	-	-	-
Recreation(3)	93.578	-	94.198	4.5	0.7	-
Education and communication(3)	143.542	-	140.167	-0.6	-2.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,591.088	-	1,551.696	2.8	-2.5	-
Other goods and services	438.140	-	452.186	11.7	3.2	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	279.743	-	284.925	10.8	1.9	-
Commodities	211.229	-	215.179	14.5	1.9	-
Commodities less food & beverages	176.817	-	179.851	17.7	1.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	216.789	-	226.858	17.9	4.6	-
Durables	135.882	-	133.749	17.3	-1.6	-
Services	343.554	-	349.880	8.6	1.8	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	267.638	-	272.834	11.4	1.9	-
All items less shelter	267.425	-	272.160	11.3	1.8	-
Commodities less food	175.673	-	178.574	17.1	1.7	-
Nondurables	245.892	-	253.814	12.9	3.2	-
Nondurables less food	210.757	-	219.814	16.7	4.3	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	385.020	-	391.302	7.1	1.6	-
Services less medical care services	325.352	-	331.633	9.0	1.9	-
Energy	264.024	295.553	284.089	23.5	7.6	-3.9
All items less energy	281.268	-	285.145	9.8	1.4	-
All items less food and energy	278.955	-	282.346	9.8	1.2	-
Footnotes (1) Index is on a December 1977=100 base. (2) Index is on a December 1982=100 base. (3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.