The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 1.1 percent in February, 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, while the energy advanced 4.4 percent. The food index also rose in February, up 1.1 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 8.4 percent for the 12 months ending in February, after increasing 7.8-percent over the 12-month period ending in January. The index for all items less food and energy increased 7.0 percent over the past year. The energy index and the food index also increased over the past year, up 26.2 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 1.1 percent in February, led by a 1.3 percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also rose in February, up 0.7 percent.

The food index advanced 7.4 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting increases in the food at home (+7.9 percent) and food away from home (+6.7 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 4.4 percent in February, led by a 7.4-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index rose 0.9 percent over the month and the utility (piped) gas service index rose 1.5 percent.

The energy index advanced 26.2 percent for the 12 months ending in February, led by a 40.4-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the year, up 10.7 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.8 percent in February. The shelter index (+0.7 percent) was a major contributor to this increase.  

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 7.0 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting increases across many indexes. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 24.0 percent over the past 12 months, led by a 41.2-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index; the new vehicles index increased 12.0 percent over the past year. Shelter (+5.4 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 1.2 percent in the West South Central division in February, and 1.1 percent in both the South Atlantic and East South Central divisions.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 8.6 percent in the South Atlantic division and 8.5 percent in the West South Central division. The all items index rose 7.4 percent in the East South Central division over the past year.

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	1.1	8.4
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 March 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 12, 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 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-
	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022	Feb. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	269.263	271.634	274.688	8.4	2.0	1.1
All items (December 1977=100)	436.781	440.628	445.582	-	-	-
Food and beverages	280.189	283.186	286.289	7.2	2.2	1.1
Food	282.547	285.677	288.729	7.4	2.2	1.1
Food at home	264.292	267.580	271.047	7.9	2.6	1.3
Cereal and bakery products	303.279	308.536	312.551	6.4	3.1	1.3
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	290.014	291.564	294.166	12.7	1.4	0.9
Dairy and related products	236.759	237.784	240.727	4.8	1.7	1.2
Fruits and vegetables	305.219	310.452	314.731	6.0	3.1	1.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	180.205	183.109	187.271	6.4	3.9	2.3
Other food at home	230.121	233.484	236.255	7.2	2.7	1.2
Food away from home	312.602	315.411	317.675	6.7	1.6	0.7
Alcoholic beverages	247.440	248.588	252.384	4.6	2.0	1.5
Housing	264.204	266.698	268.728	6.4	1.7	0.8
Shelter	304.944	306.765	308.941	5.4	1.3	0.7
Rent of primary residence	320.899	323.126	325.362	5.3	1.4	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	307.423	309.135	310.623	4.8	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	307.419	309.133	310.618	4.8	1.0	0.5
Fuels and utilities	259.761	264.929	267.286	10.0	2.9	0.9
Household energy	208.745	214.149	216.495	12.4	3.7	1.1
Energy services	208.240	213.644	215.760	12.0	3.6	1.0
Electricity	201.523	207.880	209.768	10.7	4.1	0.9
Utility (piped) gas service	235.685	234.427	237.872	20.2	0.9	1.5
Household furnishings and operations	135.470	138.434	139.782	9.6	3.2	1.0
Apparel	130.807	133.194	136.479	7.5	4.3	2.5
Transportation	248.267	250.055	256.401	22.2	3.3	2.5
Private transportation	251.439	253.318	259.523	23.1	3.2	2.4
New and used motor vehicles(2)	128.947	130.126	130.720	24.0	1.4	0.5
New vehicles	173.476	173.659	174.304	12.0	0.5	0.4
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	118.174	118.301	118.743	12.1	0.5	0.4
New cars(3)	172.405	172.250	173.253	12.5	0.5	0.6
Used cars and trucks	208.283	211.458	213.031	41.2	2.3	0.7
Motor fuel	270.690	272.027	292.312	40.4	8.0	7.5
Gasoline (all types)	269.218	270.540	290.641	40.4	8.0	7.4
Unleaded regular(3)	263.132	264.462	284.703	41.2	8.2	7.7
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	299.601	300.743	319.902	36.9	6.8	6.4
Unleaded premium(3)	291.388	292.511	309.071	34.0	6.1	5.7
Medical care	503.320	507.582	509.264	2.7	1.2	0.3
Medical care commodities	354.585	359.089	358.358	2.7	1.1	-0.2
Medical care services	553.667	557.824	560.353	2.7	1.2	0.5
Professional services	386.052	386.678	387.294	1.3	0.3	0.2
Recreation(2)	125.775	127.253	129.388	4.5	2.9	1.7
Education and communication(2)	139.850	139.695	138.857	1.9	-0.7	-0.6
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,399.872	1,399.395	1,402.142	1.7	0.2	0.2
Other goods and services	466.509	471.803	476.452	5.7	2.1	1.0
Commodity and service group
All Items	269.263	271.634	274.688	8.4	2.0	1.1
Commodities	207.337	209.741	212.992	13.4	2.7	1.6
Commodities less food and beverages	172.447	174.529	177.654	17.3	3.0	1.8
Nondurables less food and beverages	214.968	217.672	225.069	15.6	4.7	3.4
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	265.874	268.849	278.603	17.9	4.8	3.6
Durables	129.439	130.946	131.470	19.2	1.6	0.4
Services	331.192	333.497	336.301	5.3	1.5	0.8
Rent of shelter(1)	313.597	315.534	317.792	5.4	1.3	0.7
Transportation services	366.845	369.038	377.457	7.3	2.9	2.3
Other services	367.034	368.469	371.482	3.4	1.2	0.8
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	256.420	258.687	261.798	9.0	2.1	1.2
All items less food	266.944	269.204	272.253	8.6	2.0	1.1
All items less shelter	256.473	259.073	262.488	9.8	2.3	1.3
Commodities less food	174.848	176.920	180.072	16.8	3.0	1.8
Nondurables	245.776	248.621	254.019	10.9	3.4	2.2
Nondurables less food	216.474	219.088	226.275	14.8	4.5	3.3
Nondurables less food and apparel	262.876	265.683	274.891	16.7	4.6	3.5
Services less rent of shelter(1)	363.761	366.605	370.192	5.0	1.8	1.0
Services less medical care services	311.207	313.350	316.153	5.6	1.6	0.9
Energy	232.871	236.305	246.813	26.2	6.0	4.4
All items less energy	274.471	276.750	279.073	7.1	1.7	0.8
All items less food and energy	273.519	275.665	277.875	7.0	1.6	0.8
Commodities less food and energy commodities	163.612	165.752	166.959	12.9	2.0	0.7
Energy commodities	275.425	276.893	297.413	40.2	8.0	7.4
Services less energy services	344.228	346.209	349.087	4.8	1.4	0.8
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.