The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.3 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in December. The food index rose 0.6 percent over the month, while the energy index declined 1.7 percent. (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 7.4 percent for the 12 months ending in December, after increasing 7.2-percent over the 12-month period ending in November. The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.0 percent over the past year, while the energy index rose 28.1 percent. The food index advanced 5.9 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 0.6 percent in December, reflecting increases in the food away from home (0.7 percent) and food at home (0.5 percent) indexes.

The food index advanced 5.9 percent for the 12 months ending in December, led by a 6.4-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the past 12 months, up 5.4 percent

Energy

The energy index declined 1.7 percent in December, led by a 3.1-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index also declined in December, down 1.1 percent. The electricity index was little changed over the month, up 0.1 percent.

The energy index advanced 28.1 percent for the 12 months ending in December, led by a 51.1-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the past year, up 6.4 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in December. The new and used motor vehicles index increased 2.3 percent over the month, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (3.4 percent) and new vehicles (1.7 percent) indexes. The shelter index rose 0.4 percent in December, while the recreation and apparel indexes declined 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.0 percent for the 12 months ending in December, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 21.8 percent over the past 12 months, led by a 37.0-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index; the new vehicles index increased 12.4 percent over the year. Shelter (4.6 percent) was also among the indexes to increase over the past year.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U increased in the South Atlantic and West South Central divisions in December, up 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. The all items index edged down 0.2 percent in the East South Central division in December.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.5 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 7.4 percent in the West South Central division and 7.1 percent in the East South Central 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	0.5	5.8
August	0.4	1.9	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6
September	0.7	2.4	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3	0.3	5.8
October	-0.2	2.0	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3	1.0	6.6
November	-0.1	2.1	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2	0.4	7.2
December	-0.1	1.8	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4	0.3	7.4

The Consumer Price Index for January 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 10, 2022, 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-
	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Dec. 2020	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	267.160	268.360	269.263	7.4	0.8	0.3
All items (December 1977=100)	433.371	435.318	436.781	-	-	-
Food and beverages	278.215	278.681	280.189	5.8	0.7	0.5
Food	280.435	280.901	282.547	5.9	0.8	0.6
Food at home	263.147	263.105	264.292	6.4	0.4	0.5
Cereal and bakery products	301.019	302.109	303.279	4.5	0.8	0.4
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	292.778	291.974	290.014	12.8	-0.9	-0.7
Dairy and related products	231.894	232.282	236.759	2.1	2.1	1.9
Fruits and vegetables	303.516	301.598	305.219	6.1	0.6	1.2
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	180.845	178.935	180.205	3.8	-0.4	0.7
Other food at home	227.000	229.087	230.121	4.6	1.4	0.5
Food away from home	309.069	310.275	312.602	5.4	1.1	0.7
Alcoholic beverages	247.308	247.772	247.440	3.1	0.1	-0.1
Housing	262.273	263.137	264.204	5.1	0.7	0.4
Shelter	302.555	303.697	304.944	4.6	0.8	0.4
Rent of primary residence	317.726	319.290	320.899	4.1	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	304.596	306.203	307.423	4.2	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	304.594	306.201	307.419	4.2	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities	259.760	259.340	259.761	7.2	0.0	0.2
Household energy	209.677	208.792	208.745	8.6	-0.4	0.0
Energy services	209.347	208.328	208.240	8.1	-0.5	0.0
Electricity	203.495	201.238	201.523	6.4	-1.0	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service	230.948	238.236	235.685	19.3	2.1	-1.1
Household furnishings and operations	133.946	134.633	135.470	6.9	1.1	0.6
Apparel	131.939	131.720	130.807	6.4	-0.9	-0.7
Transportation	242.844	247.393	248.267	21.7	2.2	0.4
Private transportation	245.570	250.302	251.439	23.1	2.4	0.5
New and used motor vehicles(2)	123.658	126.095	128.947	21.8	4.3	2.3
New vehicles	168.782	170.555	173.476	12.4	2.8	1.7
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	114.963	116.172	118.174	12.5	2.8	1.7
New cars(3)	166.689	168.572	172.405	12.9	3.4	2.3
Used cars and trucks	196.602	201.401	208.283	37.0	5.9	3.4
Motor fuel	271.606	279.337	270.690	51.0	-0.3	-3.1
Gasoline (all types)	270.273	277.881	269.218	51.1	-0.4	-3.1
Unleaded regular(3)	264.406	271.915	263.132	52.4	-0.5	-3.2
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	299.018	307.364	299.601	45.6	0.2	-2.5
Unleaded premium(3)	290.747	298.386	291.388	41.6	0.2	-2.3
Motor vehicle insurance(5)	949.398	961.051	958.430	4.0	1.0	-0.3
Medical care	502.016	501.880	503.320	2.8	0.3	0.3
Medical care commodities	354.701	354.119	354.585	1.8	0.0	0.1
Medical care services	551.885	551.899	553.667	3.0	0.3	0.3
Professional services	385.494	385.936	386.052	2.9	0.1	0.0
Recreation(2)	127.743	126.223	125.775	2.7	-1.5	-0.4
Education and communication(2)	139.465	139.463	139.850	2.4	0.3	0.3
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,396.210	1,398.050	1,399.872	1.9	0.3	0.1
Other goods and services	460.236	463.349	466.509	4.4	1.4	0.7
Commodity and service group
All Items	267.160	268.360	269.263	7.4	0.8	0.3
Commodities	204.842	206.450	207.337	12.6	1.2	0.4
Commodities less food and beverages	169.872	171.821	172.447	16.9	1.5	0.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	215.048	217.396	214.968	16.1	0.0	-1.1
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	265.387	269.182	265.874	19.1	0.2	-1.2
Durables	125.623	127.132	129.439	17.7	3.0	1.8
Services	329.548	330.289	331.192	4.2	0.5	0.3
Rent of shelter(1)	311.102	312.305	313.597	4.6	0.8	0.4
Transportation services	363.333	368.356	366.845	3.6	1.0	-0.4
Other services	368.016	366.303	367.034	2.7	-0.3	0.2
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	254.288	255.548	256.420	7.9	0.8	0.3
All items less food	264.845	266.156	266.944	7.6	0.8	0.3
All items less shelter	254.474	255.701	256.473	8.8	0.8	0.3
Commodities less food	172.324	174.243	174.848	16.4	1.5	0.3
Nondurables	244.875	246.322	245.776	10.3	0.4	-0.2
Nondurables less food	216.542	218.772	216.474	15.2	0.0	-1.1
Nondurables less food and apparel	262.423	265.900	262.876	17.5	0.2	-1.1
Services less rent of shelter(1)	363.124	363.312	363.761	3.8	0.2	0.1
Services less medical care services	309.588	310.379	311.207	4.4	0.5	0.3
Energy	233.774	236.921	232.871	28.1	-0.4	-1.7
All items less energy	272.056	273.069	274.471	6.0	0.9	0.5
All items less food and energy	271.048	272.156	273.519	6.0	0.9	0.5
Commodities less food and energy commodities	160.701	161.937	163.612	11.4	1.8	1.0
Energy commodities	276.172	284.012	275.425	50.6	-0.3	-3.0
Services less energy services	342.299	343.221	344.228	4.0	0.6	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.