The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South declined 0.2 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The energy index fell 7.4 percent over the month. In contrast, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in August and the food index rose 0.7 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 8.9 percent for the 12 months ending in August, after increasing 9.4-percent over the 12-month period ending in July. The index for all items less food and energy rose 7.1 percent over the past year. The energy index and the food index also increased over the last 12 months, up 22.6 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.7 percent in August, reflecting increases in the food away from home (+1.0 percent) and the food at home (+0.5 percent) indexes.

The food index advanced 11.5 percent for the 12 months ending in August, led by a 13.6-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the past 12 months, up 8.4 percent.  

Energy

The energy index fell 7.4 percent in August, reflecting a 14.0-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index increased 6.2 percent over the month, while the electricity index edged up 0.4 percent.  

The energy index advanced 22.6 percent for the 12 months ending in August, led by a 24.1-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the past 12 months, up 18.4 percent and 30.1 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in August, primarily reflecting a 0.8-percent increase in the shelter index. Household furnishings and operations (+0.9 percent), medical care (+0.4 percent), and apparel (+1.4 percent) were also among the indexes to increase in August. In contrast, the used cars and trucks index declined 0.5 percent over the month.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 7.1 percent for the 12 months ending in August, led by a 7.9-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 10.1 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the new vehicles (+11.8 percent) and used cars and trucks (+7.7 percent) indexes.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. The all items index declined 0.5 percent in the East South Central division in August. The all items index also declined in the South Atlantic and West South Central divisions in August, down 0.1 percent each.  

Over the year, the all items index advanced 9.4 percent in the West South Central division and 9.0 percent in the South Atlantic division. The all items index increased 7.5 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	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	-0.2	8.9
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 September 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 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-
	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022	Aug. 2022	Aug. 2021	Jun. 2022	Jul. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	287.427	287.608	287.168	8.9	-0.1	-0.2
All items (December 1977=100)	466.247	466.540	465.826	-	-	-
Food and beverages	297.375	300.988	303.117	11.0	1.9	0.7
Food	300.550	304.342	306.513	11.5	2.0	0.7
Food at home	285.549	290.092	291.673	13.6	2.1	0.5
Cereal and bakery products	336.070	342.457	343.055	16.6	2.1	0.2
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	306.944	311.062	312.723	10.7	1.9	0.5
Dairy and related products	262.159	268.539	268.769	17.4	2.5	0.1
Fruits and vegetables	321.255	320.424	321.770	7.9	0.2	0.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	196.999	200.076	203.203	15.2	3.1	1.6
Other food at home	250.863	257.189	258.525	16.6	3.1	0.5
Food away from home	324.482	326.863	330.085	8.4	1.7	1.0
Alcoholic beverages	253.259	254.382	255.928	3.3	1.1	0.6
Housing	277.887	280.625	282.986	9.1	1.8	0.8
Shelter	318.204	320.777	323.346	7.9	1.6	0.8
Rent of primary residence	336.108	339.548	342.960	9.4	2.0	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	319.065	321.794	324.693	7.8	1.8	0.9
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	319.060	321.791	324.694	7.8	1.8	0.9
Fuels and utilities	287.245	294.235	297.285	16.1	3.5	1.0
Household energy	237.629	244.714	247.703	20.2	4.2	1.2
Energy services	236.794	244.123	247.272	20.0	4.4	1.3
Electricity	227.842	237.747	238.801	18.4	4.8	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service	276.584	266.499	283.099	30.1	2.4	6.2
Household furnishings and operations	142.514	143.368	144.650	9.6	1.5	0.9
Apparel	135.275	133.414	135.296	4.8	0.0	1.4
Transportation	287.733	280.741	271.261	13.7	-5.7	-3.4
Private transportation	289.154	282.692	273.305	13.6	-5.5	-3.3
New and used motor vehicles(2)	133.980	134.885	134.874	10.1	0.7	0.0
New vehicles	180.641	181.766	182.825	11.8	1.2	0.6
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	180.313	181.656	182.572	12.7	1.3	0.5
Used cars and trucks	214.326	214.794	213.629	7.7	-0.3	-0.5
Motor fuel	409.815	371.164	319.583	24.7	-22.0	-13.9
Gasoline (all types)	407.003	368.091	316.509	24.1	-22.2	-14.0
Unleaded regular(3)	400.378	360.983	309.640	24.4	-22.7	-14.2
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	439.936	404.620	351.711	23.5	-20.1	-13.1
Unleaded premium(3)	418.341	387.643	339.920	22.2	-18.7	-12.3
Medical care	519.243	522.121	524.413	5.2	1.0	0.4
Medical care commodities	363.694	364.568	367.381	5.3	1.0	0.8
Medical care services	571.931	575.505	577.602	5.1	1.0	0.4
Professional services	393.152	393.403	393.397	1.9	0.1	0.0
Recreation(2)	131.375	131.294	131.551	4.5	0.1	0.2
Education and communication(2)	138.753	138.520	138.494	-0.2	-0.2	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,416.963	1,419.253	1,426.584	2.8	0.7	0.5
Other goods and services	483.830	484.836	489.069	6.6	1.1	0.9
Commodity and service group
All Items	287.427	287.608	287.168	8.9	-0.1	-0.2
Commodities	227.101	225.024	221.977	10.6	-2.3	-1.4
Commodities less food and beverages	191.987	188.170	183.600	10.5	-4.4	-2.4
Nondurables less food and beverages	259.597	248.847	236.331	13.1	-9.0	-5.0
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	332.379	316.751	296.538	15.2	-10.8	-6.4
Durables	133.567	133.816	133.931	8.2	0.3	0.1
Services	347.424	349.989	352.313	7.7	1.4	0.7
Rent of shelter(1)	327.399	330.073	332.744	8.0	1.6	0.8
Transportation services	407.280	407.243	410.197	12.0	0.7	0.7
Other services	373.837	373.717	374.222	2.6	0.1	0.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	274.626	274.670	274.094	9.3	-0.2	-0.2
All items less food	285.101	284.773	283.965	8.5	-0.4	-0.3
All items less shelter	276.660	275.898	274.268	9.3	-0.9	-0.6
Commodities less food	194.183	190.454	185.994	10.2	-4.2	-2.3
Nondurables	277.632	273.585	267.901	12.0	-3.5	-2.1
Nondurables less food	258.890	248.813	237.094	12.5	-8.4	-4.7
Nondurables less food and apparel	324.001	309.843	291.539	14.2	-10.0	-5.9
Services less rent of shelter(1)	383.586	386.093	388.044	7.4	1.2	0.5
Services less medical care services	327.152	329.618	331.941	8.1	1.5	0.7
Energy	311.620	297.632	275.588	22.6	-11.6	-7.4
All items less energy	286.659	288.263	289.989	7.7	1.2	0.6
All items less food and energy	284.799	286.058	287.715	7.1	1.0	0.6
Commodities less food and energy commodities	169.463	169.641	170.451	7.5	0.6	0.5
Energy commodities	415.098	376.504	325.021	24.8	-21.7	-13.7
Services less energy services	359.177	361.245	363.483	7.0	1.2	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.