The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.1 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent over the month. The food index increased 1.3 percent in July, while the energy index declined 4.5 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 9.4 percent for the 12 months ending in July, after increasing 9.8-percent over the 12-month period ending in June. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.8 percent over the past year, while the energy index advanced 33.2 percent. The food index also increased over the past 12 months, up 11.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.3 percent in July, led by a 1.6 percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased in July, up 0.7 percent.

The food index advanced 11.1 percent for the 12 months ending in July, reflecting increases in the food at home (+13.1 percent) and food away from home (+7.8 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index fell 4.5 percent in July, primarily reflecting a 9.6-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index declined 3.6 percent over the month, while the electricity index rose 4.3 percent.

The energy index advanced 33.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July, led by a 44.3-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the past 12 months, up 19.2 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.4 percent in July, reflecting increases across several indexes, most notably, shelter (+0.8 percent)

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.8 percent for the 12 months ending in July, led by a 7.4-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 9.5 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the new vehicles (+11.9 percent) and used cars and trucks (+6.5 percent) indexes.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items CPI-U rose 0.2 percent in the South Atlantic division in July. In contrast, the all items index edged down 0.1 percent in the West South Central division over the month, and was unchanged in the East South Central division.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 9.7 percent in the West South Central division and 9.5 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index increased 8.0 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	1.5	9.8
July	0.0	2.9	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8	0.1	9.4
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 August 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, September 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

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-
	May 2022	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Jul. 2021	May 2022	Jun. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	283.307	287.427	287.608	9.4	1.5	0.1
All items (December 1977=100)	459.563	466.247	466.540	-	-	-
Food and beverages	294.391	297.375	300.988	10.6	2.2	1.2
Food	297.475	300.550	304.342	11.1	2.3	1.3
Food at home	282.376	285.549	290.092	13.1	2.7	1.6
Cereal and bakery products	326.610	336.070	342.457	15.6	4.9	1.9
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	305.338	306.944	311.062	10.6	1.9	1.3
Dairy and related products	258.374	262.159	268.539	16.6	3.9	2.4
Fruits and vegetables	322.997	321.255	320.424	7.1	-0.8	-0.3
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	194.077	196.999	200.076	14.3	3.1	1.6
Other food at home	246.995	250.863	257.189	16.5	4.1	2.5
Food away from home	321.619	324.482	326.863	7.8	1.6	0.7
Alcoholic beverages	251.540	253.259	254.382	3.5	1.1	0.4
Housing	274.741	277.887	280.625	8.6	2.1	1.0
Shelter	315.381	318.204	320.777	7.4	1.7	0.8
Rent of primary residence	332.574	336.108	339.548	8.8	2.1	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	315.981	319.065	321.794	7.2	1.8	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	315.979	319.060	321.791	7.2	1.8	0.9
Fuels and utilities	277.092	287.245	294.235	16.0	6.2	2.4
Household energy	226.873	237.629	244.714	20.2	7.9	3.0
Energy services	225.770	236.794	244.123	19.9	8.1	3.1
Electricity	218.352	227.842	237.747	19.2	8.9	4.3
Utility (piped) gas service	256.407	276.584	266.499	24.4	3.9	-3.6
Household furnishings and operations	142.272	142.514	143.368	9.3	0.8	0.6
Apparel	135.625	135.275	133.414	4.8	-1.6	-1.4
Transportation	277.639	287.733	280.741	17.1	1.1	-2.4
Private transportation	278.511	289.154	282.692	17.3	1.5	-2.2
New and used motor vehicles(2)	131.942	133.980	134.885	9.5	2.2	0.7
New vehicles	179.191	180.641	181.766	11.9	1.4	0.6
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	178.625	180.313	181.656	13.3	1.7	0.7
Used cars and trucks	209.507	214.326	214.794	6.5	2.5	0.2
Motor fuel	374.069	409.815	371.164	44.9	-0.8	-9.4
Gasoline (all types)	370.911	407.003	368.091	44.3	-0.8	-9.6
Unleaded regular(3)	364.515	400.378	360.983	45.0	-1.0	-9.8
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	402.183	439.936	404.620	42.4	0.6	-8.0
Unleaded premium(3)	384.332	418.341	387.643	39.5	0.9	-7.3
Medical care	515.023	519.243	522.121	4.9	1.4	0.6
Medical care commodities	363.141	363.694	364.568	4.4	0.4	0.2
Medical care services	566.431	571.931	575.505	5.0	1.6	0.6
Professional services	388.455	393.152	393.403	2.2	1.3	0.1
Recreation(2)	131.169	131.375	131.294	5.1	0.1	-0.1
Education and communication(2)	138.577	138.753	138.520	0.8	0.0	-0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,407.403	1,416.963	1,419.253	3.2	0.8	0.2
Other goods and services	482.677	483.830	484.836	6.2	0.4	0.2
Commodity and service group
All Items	283.307	287.427	287.608	9.4	1.5	0.1
Commodities	222.542	227.101	225.024	12.4	1.1	-0.9
Commodities less food and beverages	187.161	191.987	188.170	13.5	0.5	-2.0
Nondurables less food and beverages	249.314	259.597	248.847	19.5	-0.2	-4.1
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	316.367	332.379	316.751	23.1	0.1	-4.7
Durables	132.162	133.567	133.816	8.2	1.3	0.2
Services	343.821	347.424	349.989	7.3	1.8	0.7
Rent of shelter(1)	324.528	327.399	330.073	7.4	1.7	0.8
Transportation services	401.388	407.280	407.243	9.8	1.5	0.0
Other services	373.615	373.837	373.717	3.3	0.0	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	270.526	274.626	274.670	9.8	1.5	0.0
All items less food	280.840	285.101	284.773	9.1	1.4	-0.1
All items less shelter	272.008	276.660	275.898	10.3	1.4	-0.3
Commodities less food	189.401	194.183	190.454	13.1	0.6	-1.9
Nondurables	270.748	277.632	273.585	14.7	1.0	-1.5
Nondurables less food	249.096	258.890	248.813	18.4	-0.1	-3.9
Nondurables less food and apparel	309.258	324.001	309.843	21.5	0.2	-4.4
Services less rent of shelter(1)	378.941	383.586	386.093	7.2	1.9	0.7
Services less medical care services	323.726	327.152	329.618	7.7	1.8	0.8
Energy	289.645	311.620	297.632	33.2	2.8	-4.5
All items less energy	284.307	286.659	288.263	7.4	1.4	0.6
All items less food and energy	282.559	284.799	286.058	6.8	1.2	0.4
Commodities less food and energy commodities	168.132	169.463	169.641	7.3	0.9	0.1
Energy commodities	379.519	415.098	376.504	44.6	-0.8	-9.3
Services less energy services	356.350	359.177	361.245	6.5	1.4	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. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.