The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 1.2 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent over the month. The energy index increased 6.1 percent in May, while the food index rose 1.0 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 9.2 percent for the 12 months ending in May, after increasing 8.8-percent over the 12-month period ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.7 percent over the past year. The energy index and the food index also increased over the past 12 months, up 34.1 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.0 percent in May, led by a 1.3 percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased in May, up 0.5 percent.

The food index jumped 10.1 percent for the 12 months ending in May, reflecting increases in the food at home (+11.7 percent) and food away from home (+7.6 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 6.1 percent in May, reflecting an 8.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. Over the month, the electricity index rose 2.4 percent and the utility (piped) gas service index rose 3.6 percent.

The energy index advanced 34.1 percent for the 12 months ending in May, led by a 50.1-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index rose 13.4 percent over the past year, while the utility (piped) gas service index increased 24.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent in May. Shelter (+0.8 percent) was among the indexes to contribute to the overall increase.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.7 percent for the 12 months ending in May, led by a 6.5-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 14.4 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (+16.0 percent) and new vehicles (+13.1 percent) indexes.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U advanced 1.4 percent in the West South Central division in May. The all items index in the South Atlantic and East South Central divisions rose 1.1 percent each over the month.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 9.9 percent in the West South Central division and 9.2 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index rose 7.7 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	1.1	8.4
March	0.2	2.3	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9	1.4	9.1
April	0.4	2.4	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4	0.5	8.8
May	0.3	2.7	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6	1.2	9.2
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 June 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, July 13, 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-
	Mar. 2022	Apr. 2022	May 2022	May 2021	Mar. 2022	Apr. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	278.598	279.879	283.307	9.2	1.7	1.2
All items (December 1977=100)	451.925	454.002	459.563	-	-	-
Food and beverages	289.302	291.755	294.391	9.6	1.8	0.9
Food	291.883	294.609	297.475	10.1	1.9	1.0
Food at home	275.222	278.880	282.376	11.7	2.6	1.3
Cereal and bakery products	318.757	323.203	326.610	11.9	2.5	1.1
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	297.929	302.814	305.338	13.3	2.5	0.8
Dairy and related products	244.669	250.215	258.374	11.9	5.6	3.3
Fruits and vegetables	320.082	319.719	322.997	6.6	0.9	1.0
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	189.062	192.198	194.077	12.4	2.7	1.0
Other food at home	240.239	243.811	246.995	13.0	2.8	1.3
Food away from home	318.933	319.932	321.619	7.6	0.8	0.5
Alcoholic beverages	253.443	252.096	251.540	3.0	-0.8	-0.2
Housing	270.537	272.278	274.741	7.4	1.6	0.9
Shelter	311.085	312.814	315.381	6.5	1.4	0.8
Rent of primary residence	327.124	329.443	332.574	7.1	1.7	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	312.040	313.676	315.981	6.0	1.3	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	312.034	313.672	315.979	6.0	1.3	0.7
Fuels and utilities	267.919	271.551	277.092	12.4	3.4	2.0
Household energy	217.196	220.979	226.873	15.5	4.5	2.7
Energy services	216.103	220.033	225.770	15.0	4.5	2.6
Electricity	209.956	213.188	218.352	13.4	4.0	2.4
Utility (piped) gas service	239.200	247.382	256.407	24.9	7.2	3.6
Household furnishings and operations	141.153	141.850	142.272	8.6	0.8	0.3
Apparel	136.594	136.131	135.625	5.3	-0.7	-0.4
Transportation	268.755	269.144	277.639	20.6	3.3	3.2
Private transportation	271.780	270.803	278.511	20.7	2.5	2.8
New and used motor vehicles(2)	130.501	130.594	131.942	14.4	1.1	1.0
New vehicles	175.662	177.369	179.191	13.1	2.0	1.0
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	119.700	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	174.209	176.819	178.625	14.0	2.5	1.0
Used cars and trucks	209.376	208.048	209.507	16.0	0.1	0.7
Motor fuel	352.110	344.680	374.069	50.7	6.2	8.5
Gasoline (all types)	349.852	341.836	370.911	50.1	6.0	8.5
Unleaded regular(3)	343.529	335.176	364.515	51.1	6.1	8.8
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	380.888	375.678	402.183	46.4	5.6	7.1
Unleaded premium(3)	364.950	360.554	384.332	42.8	5.3	6.6
Medical care	512.534	513.192	515.023	4.1	0.5	0.4
Medical care commodities	359.712	362.212	363.141	4.2	1.0	0.3
Medical care services	564.287	564.288	566.431	4.1	0.4	0.4
Professional services	389.751	387.911	388.455	1.3	-0.3	0.1
Recreation(2)	128.704	129.972	131.169	4.7	1.9	0.9
Education and communication(2)	138.955	138.682	138.577	1.0	-0.3	-0.1
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,400.967	1,402.439	1,407.403	2.8	0.5	0.4
Other goods and services	477.312	479.148	482.677	6.8	1.1	0.7
Commodity and service group
All Items	278.598	279.879	283.307	9.2	1.7	1.2
Commodities	218.696	218.958	222.542	13.6	1.8	1.6
Commodities less food and beverages	183.927	183.461	187.161	15.9	1.8	2.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	242.159	240.485	249.314	20.7	3.0	3.7
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	304.866	302.518	316.367	24.6	3.8	4.6
Durables	131.359	131.578	132.162	11.8	0.6	0.4
Services	338.263	340.604	343.821	6.4	1.6	0.9
Rent of shelter(1)	320.038	321.843	324.528	6.6	1.4	0.8
Transportation services	384.347	392.565	401.388	9.1	4.4	2.2
Other services	370.325	371.930	373.615	3.6	0.9	0.5
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	265.725	267.032	270.526	9.8	1.8	1.3
All items less food	276.264	277.339	280.840	9.1	1.7	1.3
All items less shelter	267.114	268.224	272.008	10.5	1.8	1.4
Commodities less food	186.262	185.776	189.401	15.4	1.7	2.0
Nondurables	264.550	264.803	270.748	14.8	2.3	2.2
Nondurables less food	242.454	240.799	249.096	19.5	2.7	3.4
Nondurables less food and apparel	298.928	296.675	309.258	22.9	3.5	4.2
Services less rent of shelter(1)	371.853	374.946	378.941	6.2	1.9	1.1
Services less medical care services	317.946	320.450	323.726	6.7	1.8	1.0
Energy	274.544	273.118	289.645	34.1	5.5	6.1
All items less energy	280.614	282.174	284.307	7.2	1.3	0.8
All items less food and energy	279.164	280.540	282.559	6.7	1.2	0.7
Commodities less food and energy commodities	167.121	167.418	168.132	9.0	0.6	0.4
Energy commodities	357.393	349.922	379.519	50.4	6.2	8.5
Services less energy services	351.220	353.395	356.350	5.9	1.5	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. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.