The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.8 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent over the month, while the energy index increased 3.5 percent. The food index rose 0.6 percent in January. (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 6.9 percent for the 12 months ending in January, after increasing 7.0-percent for the 12-month period ending in December. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent over the past year. The food index and the energy index also increased over the last 12 months, up 10.3 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.6 percent in January, reflecting increases in the food at home (+0.6 percent) and food away from home (+0.5 percent) indexes. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the month, including cereals and bakery products and meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.

The food index advanced 10.3 percent for the 12 months ending in January, led by a 11.9-percent increase in the food at home index as all six major grocery store food groups increased over the year. The food away from home index also increased over the past year, up 7.8 percent.  

Energy

The energy index rose 3.5 percent in January, largely due to a 7.3-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity and natural gas indexes also increased in January, up 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.  

The energy index rose 7.9 percent for the 12 months ending in January. Increases were noted for the electricity (+12.6 percent), natural gas (+20.5 percent) and gasoline (+2.4 percent) indexes.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in January, primarily reflecting a 0.9-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.8 percent over the month and rent of primary residence rose 0.7 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.3 percent for the 12 months ending in January, after increasing 6.5 percent over the 12-month period ending in December. Several components contributed to the 12-month increase, most notably, shelter (+9.8 percent). Within shelter, owner’s equivalent rent increased 9.6 percent over the past year and rent of primary residence rose 11.3 percent. In contrast, the used cars and trucks index declined 11.9 percent over the last 12 months.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In January, the all items index rose 1.1 percent in the West South Central division, 0.8 percent in the East South Central division, and 0.6 percent in the South Atlantic division.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 7.0 percent in the West South Central division, 6.9 percent in the South Atlantic division, and 6.6 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	2019		2020		2021		2022		2023
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	0.2	1.2	0.3	2.3	0.5	1.6	0.9	7.8	0.8	6.9
February	0.5	1.1	0.2	1.9	0.5	2.0	1.1	8.4
March	0.7	1.6	-0.1	1.1	0.8	2.9	1.4	9.1
April	0.5	1.8	-0.8	-0.2	0.7	4.4	0.5	8.8
May	-0.1	1.4	-0.2	-0.4	0.8	5.6	1.2	9.2
June	-0.1	1.1	0.6	0.3	0.9	5.8	1.5	9.8
July	0.3	1.4	0.6	0.6	0.5	5.8	0.1	9.4
August	-0.1	1.4	0.4	1.1	0.3	5.6	-0.2	8.9
September	0.0	1.3	0.2	1.3	0.3	5.8	0.2	8.7
October	0.2	1.3	0.1	1.3	1.0	6.6	0.4	8.1
November	0.0	1.6	-0.1	1.2	0.4	7.2	0.1	7.7
December	0.0	2.1	0.2	1.4	0.3	7.4	-0.3	7.0

The Consumer Price Index for February 2023 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, 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 individuals with sensory impairments 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-
	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022	Jan. 2023	Jan. 2022	Nov. 2022	Dec. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	288.991	288.205	290.438	6.9	0.5	0.8
All items (December 1977=100)	468.784	467.509	471.130	-	-	-
Food and beverages	308.552	309.645	311.404	10.0	0.9	0.6
Food	312.103	313.189	315.003	10.3	0.9	0.6
Food at home	296.475	297.461	299.300	11.9	1.0	0.6
Cereal and bakery products	351.167	353.339	358.811	16.3	2.2	1.5
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	313.744	315.797	318.558	9.3	1.5	0.9
Dairy and related products	272.000	272.771	272.181	14.5	0.1	-0.2
Fruits and vegetables	328.955	329.676	332.213	7.0	1.0	0.8
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	207.394	209.448	210.078	14.7	1.3	0.3
Other food at home	263.844	263.095	263.885	13.0	0.0	0.3
Food away from home	337.045	338.303	340.027	7.8	0.9	0.5
Alcoholic beverages	259.209	260.396	261.359	5.1	0.8	0.4
Housing	288.299	290.077	292.411	9.6	1.4	0.8
Shelter	331.346	334.068	336.921	9.8	1.7	0.9
Rent of primary residence	354.198	357.390	359.781	11.3	1.6	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	333.504	336.311	338.949	9.6	1.6	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	333.502	336.307	338.949	9.6	1.6	0.8
Fuels and utilities	294.137	294.225	295.185	11.4	0.4	0.3
Household energy	242.953	242.684	243.485	13.7	0.2	0.3
Energy services	241.976	242.121	243.072	13.8	0.5	0.4
Electricity	233.860	233.177	234.119	12.6	0.1	0.4
Utility (piped) gas service	275.896	281.445	282.375	20.5	2.3	0.3
Household furnishings and operations	146.301	146.112	147.474	6.5	0.8	0.9
Apparel	136.937	134.195	135.810	2.0	-0.8	1.2
Transportation	264.141	256.321	259.775	3.9	-1.7	1.3
Private transportation	265.426	257.730	261.635	3.3	-1.4	1.5
New and used motor vehicles(2)	129.407	127.916	127.720	-1.8	-1.3	-0.2
New vehicles	184.487	184.377	185.268	6.7	0.4	0.5
New cars and trucks(2)(3)	-	-	-	-	-	-
New cars(3)	183.637	183.167	183.899	6.8	0.1	0.4
Used cars and trucks	193.923	189.268	186.252	-11.9	-4.0	-1.6
Motor fuel	293.137	261.605	279.869	2.9	-4.5	7.0
Gasoline (all types)	289.427	258.204	277.095	2.4	-4.3	7.3
Unleaded regular(3)	282.884	251.615	270.612	2.3	-4.3	7.6
Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)	322.168	291.528	309.283	2.8	-4.0	6.1
Unleaded premium(3)	313.261	286.202	302.407	3.4	-3.5	5.7
Medical care	520.021	521.499	521.622	2.8	0.3	0.0
Medical care commodities	366.460	366.500	371.362	3.4	1.3	1.3
Medical care services	572.000	573.981	572.305	2.6	0.1	-0.3
Professional services	393.899	393.046	392.817	1.6	-0.3	-0.1
Recreation(2)	133.642	133.207	134.282	5.5	0.5	0.8
Education and communication(2)	139.614	139.993	140.206	0.4	0.4	0.2
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)	1,441.796	1,445.669	1,446.974	3.4	0.4	0.1
Other goods and services	498.593	501.130	503.821	6.8	1.0	0.5
Commodity and service group
All Items	288.991	288.205	290.438	6.9	0.5	0.8
Commodities	219.757	216.564	218.744	4.3	-0.5	1.0
Commodities less food and beverages	179.006	174.589	176.763	1.3	-1.3	1.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	231.117	221.466	227.625	4.6	-1.5	2.8
Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel	287.690	274.193	282.967	5.3	-1.6	3.2
Durables	130.217	129.056	129.137	-1.4	-0.8	0.1
Services	358.390	360.160	362.401	8.7	1.1	0.6
Rent of shelter(1)	341.089	343.942	346.923	9.9	1.7	0.9
Transportation services	426.943	425.474	428.804	16.2	0.4	0.8
Other services	380.883	381.283	383.524	4.1	0.7	0.6
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	276.223	275.326	277.643	7.3	0.5	0.8
All items less food	285.256	284.207	286.494	6.4	0.4	0.8
All items less shelter	273.664	271.490	273.484	5.6	-0.1	0.7
Commodities less food	181.549	177.231	179.396	1.4	-1.2	1.2
Nondurables	267.660	263.021	267.099	7.4	-0.2	1.6
Nondurables less food	232.358	223.322	229.198	4.6	-1.4	2.6
Nondurables less food and apparel	283.741	271.532	279.626	5.2	-1.5	3.0
Services less rent of shelter(1)	391.418	391.864	393.135	7.2	0.4	0.3
Services less medical care services	338.880	340.619	343.120	9.5	1.3	0.7
Energy	261.005	246.435	255.006	7.9	-2.3	3.5
All items less energy	293.470	294.063	295.731	6.9	0.8	0.6
All items less food and energy	290.867	291.382	293.029	6.3	0.7	0.6
Commodities less food and energy commodities	168.405	167.175	167.823	1.2	-0.3	0.4
Energy commodities	299.166	267.290	285.321	3.0	-4.6	6.7
Services less energy services	370.754	372.695	375.070	8.3	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.