The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South was unchanged in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. A decline in the gasoline index was offset by an increase in the shelter index. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U for the South increased 2.3 percent for the 12 months ending in August, after increasing 2.9 percent for the 12-month period ending in July. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent over the past 12 months. The food index continued to increase, up 2.0 percent over the past year. In contrast, the energy index declined 4.6 percent over the same period. (See table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, South region, August 2021–August 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Aug 2021	5.6	4.5
Sep 2021	5.8	4.5
Oct 2021	6.6	5.0
Nov 2021	7.2	5.5
Dec 2021	7.4	6.0
Jan 2022	7.8	6.5
Feb 2022	8.4	7.0
Mar 2022	9.1	7.1
Apr 2022	8.8	6.8
May 2022	9.2	6.7
Jun 2022	9.8	6.7
Jul 2022	9.4	6.8
Aug 2022	8.9	7.1
Sep 2022	8.7	7.4
Oct 2022	8.1	7.1
Nov 2022	7.7	6.9
Dec 2022	7.0	6.5
Jan 2023	6.9	6.3
Feb 2023	6.4	6.2
Mar 2023	5.3	6.3
Apr 2023	5.5	6.3
May 2023	4.4	6.0
Jun 2023	3.3	5.5
Jul 2023	3.4	5.0
Aug 2023	4.1	4.8
Sep 2023	4.2	4.6
Oct 2023	3.7	4.5
Nov 2023	3.4	4.4
Dec 2023	3.7	4.2
Jan 2024	3.4	4.3
Feb 2024	3.7	4.4
Mar 2024	3.8	4.0
Apr 2024	3.3	3.6
May 2024	3.2	3.3
Jun 2024	2.9	3.1
Jul 2024	2.9	3.1
Aug 2024	2.3	2.9

The food index was unchanged in August. The index for food away from home rose 0.3 percent over the month. In contrast, the index for food at home declined 0.1 percent over the same period. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes declined over the month, including cereals and bakery products (-1.1 percent) and fruits and vegetables (-0.5 percent). In comparison, the index for dairy and related products increased 0.7 percent in August, while the index for nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials rose 0.4 percent over the same period.

The food index rose 2.0 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting increases in the food away from home (+3.6 percent) and food at home (+1.0 percent) indexes. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the past year, led by a 3.4-percent increase in the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.

The energy index fell 2.6 percent in August, largely attributed to a 3.7-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The indexes for electricity and natural gas also declined over the month, down 1.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The energy index declined 4.6 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting a 11.2-percent fall in the gasoline index. In contrast, the indexes for electricity (+2.2 percent) and natural gas (+1.7 percent) increased over the past year.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in August. The shelter index rose 0.4 percent over the month, reflecting increases in the indexes for owners’ equivalent rent (+0.4 percent) and rent of primary residence (+0.3 percent). Other indexes with notable increases in August include apparel (+1.4 percent); other goods and services (+0.6 percent); and tuition, other school fees, and childcare (+0.9 percent). In comparison, the used cars and trucks index declined 0.8 percent in August, while the index for household furnishings and operations edged down 0.3 percent over the same period.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.9 percent for the 12 months ending in August, after increasing 3.1 percent for the 12-month period ending in July. The index for shelter (+4.9 percent) was the largest contributor to the total 12-month increase in the all items less food and energy index. The indexes for owners’ equivalent rent (+5.2 percent) and rent of primary residence (+4.9 percent) also increased over the past year. In contrast, the index for new and used motor vehicles declined 4.9 percent over the same period, primarily reflecting a 10.8-percent decline in the used cars and trucks index.  

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In August, the all items index rose 0.1 percent in the East South Central division. Over the same period, the all items index declined 0.1 percent in the West South Central division and was unchanged in the South Atlantic division.

Over the year, the all items index increased 2.9 percent in the East South Central division, 2.4 percent in the South Atlantic division, and 1.7 percent in the West South Central division.

The Consumer Price Index for September 2024 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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, 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.