The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.9 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent over the month. The food and the energy indexes also increased in January, up 1.1 percent and 1.5 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 7.8 percent for the 12 months ending in January, after increasing 7.4-percent over the 12-month period ending in December. The index for all items less food and energy increased 6.5 percent over the past year, while the energy index rose 25.3 percent. The food index also increased over the past 12 months, up 6.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 1.1 percent in January, reflecting increases in the food at home (+1.2 percent) and food away from home (+0.9 percent) indexes.

The food index advanced 6.6 percent for the 12 months ending in January, led by a 7.1-percent jump in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the past 12 months, up 5.9 percent

Energy

The energy index rose 1.5 percent in January, led by a 3.2-percent increase in the electricity index. The gasoline index also rose in January, up 0.5 percent. In contrast, the utility (piped) gas service index declined 0.5 percent in January.  

The energy index advanced 25.3 percent for the 12 months ending in January, led by a 40.2-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the year, up 10.0 percent and 19.1 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in January. Several indexes increased over the pricing period, including shelter (+0.6 percent), household furnishings and operations (+2.2 percent), and medical care (0.8 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index rose 0.9 percent in January, led by a 1.5-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index.  

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.5 percent for the 12 months ending in January, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 23.7 percent over the past 12 months, led by a 40.5-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index; the new vehicles index increased 12.0 percent over the year. Shelter (+4.9 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 advanced 1.0 percent in the South Atlantic division in January. The all items index also rose in the West South Central and East South Central divisions, up 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.   

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.9 percent in the South Atlantic division and 7.8 percent in the West South Central division. The all items index rose 6.9 percent in the East South Central division over the past 12 months.

Table A. South region CPI-U 1-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.5	1.8	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3	0.5	1.6	0.9	7.8
February	0.6	2.1	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0
March	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9
April	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4
May	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6
June	0.2	2.7	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.9	5.8
July	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8
August	-0.1	2.4	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6
September	0.0	1.7	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3	0.3	5.8
October	0.2	2.1	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3	1.0	6.6
November	-0.3	1.9	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2	0.4	7.2
December	-0.5	1.5	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4	0.3	7.4

The Consumer Price Index for February 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, March 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-
	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Jan. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	268.360	269.263	271.634	7.8	1.2	0.9
All items (December 1977=100)	435.318	436.781	440.628	-	-	-
Food and beverages	278.681	280.189	283.186	6.4	1.6	1.1
Food	280.901	282.547	285.677	6.6	1.7	1.1
Food at home	263.105	264.292	267.580	7.1	1.7	1.2
Cereal and bakery products	302.109	303.279	308.536	6.2	2.1	1.7
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	291.974	290.014	291.564	12.6	-0.1	0.5
Dairy and related products	232.282	236.759	237.784	2.9	2.4	0.4
Fruits and vegetables	301.598	305.219	310.452	6.0	2.9	1.7
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	178.935	180.205	183.109	3.7	2.3	1.6
Other food at home	229.087	230.121	233.484	6.6	1.9	1.5
Food away from home	310.275	312.602	315.411	5.9	1.7	0.9
Alcoholic beverages	247.772	247.440	248.588	3.5	0.3	0.5
Housing	263.137	264.204	266.698	5.8	1.4	0.9
Shelter	303.697	304.944	306.765	4.9	1.0	0.6
Rent of primary residence	319.290	320.899	323.126	4.6	1.2	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	306.203	307.423	309.135	4.5	1.0	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	306.201	307.419	309.133	4.5	1.0	0.6
Fuels and utilities	259.340	259.761	264.929	9.4	2.2	2.0
Household energy	208.792	208.745	214.149	11.6	2.6	2.6
Energy services	208.328	208.240	213.644	11.2	2.6	2.6
Electricity	201.238	201.523	207.880	10.0	3.3	3.2
Utility (piped) gas service	238.236	235.685	234.427	19.1	-1.6	-0.5
Household furnishings and operations	134.633	135.470	138.434	8.3	2.8	2.2
Apparel	131.720	130.807	133.194	7.3	1.1	1.8
Transportation	247.393	248.267	250.055	21.1	1.1	0.7
Private transportation	250.302	251.439	253.318	22.2	1.2	0.7
New and used motor vehicles(2)	126.095	128.947	130.126	23.7	3.2	0.9
New vehicles	170.555	173.476	173.659	12.0	1.8	0.1
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	116.172	118.174	118.301	12.0	1.8	0.1
New cars(3)	168.572	172.405	172.250	12.1	2.2	-0.1
Used cars and trucks	201.401	208.283	211.458	40.5	5.0	1.5
Motor fuel	279.337	270.690	272.027	40.1	-2.6	0.5
Gasoline (all types)	277.881	269.218	270.540	40.2	-2.6	0.5
Unleaded regular(3)	271.915	263.132	264.462	41.1	-2.7	0.5
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	307.364	299.601	300.743	36.7	-2.2	0.4
Unleaded premium(3)	298.386	291.388	292.511	33.6	-2.0	0.4
Medical care	501.880	503.320	507.582	2.8	1.1	0.8
Medical care commodities	354.119	354.585	359.089	3.0	1.4	1.3
Medical care services	551.899	553.667	557.824	2.8	1.1	0.8
Professional services	385.936	386.052	386.678	1.9	0.2	0.2
Recreation(2)	126.223	125.775	127.253	3.2	0.8	1.2
Education and communication(2)	139.463	139.850	139.695	2.3	0.2	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,398.050	1,399.872	1,399.395	1.6	0.1	0.0
Other goods and services	463.349	466.509	471.803	5.4	1.8	1.1
Commodity and service group
All Items	268.360	269.263	271.634	7.8	1.2	0.9
Commodities	206.450	207.337	209.741	12.7	1.6	1.2
Commodities less food and beverages	171.821	172.447	174.529	16.8	1.6	1.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	217.396	214.968	217.672	14.7	0.1	1.3
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	269.182	265.874	268.849	16.8	-0.1	1.1
Durables	127.132	129.439	130.946	18.9	3.0	1.2
Services	330.289	331.192	333.497	4.6	1.0	0.7
Rent of shelter(1)	312.305	313.597	315.534	5.0	1.0	0.6
Transportation services	368.356	366.845	369.038	5.0	0.2	0.6
Other services	366.303	367.034	368.469	2.8	0.6	0.4
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	255.548	256.420	258.687	8.3	1.2	0.9
All items less food	266.156	266.944	269.204	8.0	1.1	0.8
All items less shelter	255.701	256.473	259.073	9.1	1.3	1.0
Commodities less food	174.243	174.848	176.920	16.3	1.5	1.2
Nondurables	246.322	245.776	248.621	10.0	0.9	1.2
Nondurables less food	218.772	216.474	219.088	13.8	0.1	1.2
Nondurables less food and apparel	265.900	262.876	265.683	15.6	-0.1	1.1
Services less rent of shelter(1)	363.312	363.761	366.605	4.3	0.9	0.8
Services less medical care services	310.379	311.207	313.350	4.9	1.0	0.7
Energy	236.921	232.871	236.305	25.3	-0.3	1.5
All items less energy	273.069	274.471	276.750	6.5	1.3	0.8
All items less food and energy	272.156	273.519	275.665	6.5	1.3	0.8
Commodities less food and energy commodities	161.937	163.612	165.752	12.6	2.4	1.3
Energy commodities	284.012	275.425	276.893	39.9	-2.5	0.5
Services less energy services	343.221	344.228	346.209	4.3	0.9	0.6
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.