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News Release Information

23-990-ATL
Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Consumer Price Index, South Region — April 2023

Prices in the South up 0.7 percent over the month and 5.5 percent over the past year.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South increased 0.7 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent over the month. The energy index increased 2.9 percent in April and the food index rose 0.5 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 5.5 percent for the 12 months ending in April, after increasing 5.3-percent for the 12-month period ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent over the past year. The food index also increased over the last 12 months, up 8.1 percent. In contrast, the energy index declined 5.1 percent over the past year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.5 percent in April, reflecting increases in the food at home (+0.4 percent) and food away from home (+0.5 percent) indexes. Within the food at home category, the index for other food at home rose 1.3 percent in April, and the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 1.0 percent.   

The food index advanced 8.1 percent for the 12 months ending in April, led by a 7.9-percent increase in the food at home index as all six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year. The food away from home index also increased over the past year, up 8.5 percent.  

Energy

The energy index rose 2.9 percent in April, reflecting a 6.8-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the natural gas and electricity indexes declined in April, down 2.8 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The energy index declined 5.1 percent for the 12 months ending in April, largely due to a 12.6-percent decrease in the gasoline index. Over the past year, the natural gas index declined 1.1 percent, while the electricity index increased 8.7 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent in April, primarily reflecting a 0.7-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.7 percent in April, and rent of primary residence rose 0.8 percent. The index for used cars and trucks was also among the notable components to increase in April, up 4.7 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.3 percent for the 12 months ending in April, after increasing 6.3 percent over the 12-month period ending in March. Several components contributed to the 12-month increase, most notably, shelter (+10.0 percent). Within shelter, owner’s equivalent rent increased 10.1 percent over the past year, and rent of primary residence rose 11.6 percent.

Geographic divisions

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In April, the all items index rose 0.7 percent each in the South Atlantic and West South Central divisions, and 0.6 in the East South Central division.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 6.0 percent in the South Atlantic division, 5.2 percent in the East South Central division, and 4.8 percent in the West 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 0.6 6.4

March

0.7 1.6 -0.1 1.1 0.8 2.9 1.4 9.1 0.4 5.3

April

0.5 1.8 -0.8 -0.2 0.7 4.4 0.5 8.8 0.7 5.5

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 May 2023 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).


Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for the South region is published monthly. 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.

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-
Feb.
2023
Mar.
2023
Apr.
2023
Apr.
2022
Feb.
2023
Mar.
2023

Expenditure category

All Items

292.285 293.358 295.315 5.5 1.0 0.7

All items (December 1977=100)

474.128 475.868 479.042 - - -

Food and beverages

312.804 313.239 314.609 7.8 0.6 0.4

Food

316.381 316.842 318.372 8.1 0.6 0.5

Food at home

300.089 299.503 300.837 7.9 0.2 0.4

Cereal and bakery products

358.690 361.946 362.107 12.0 1.0 0.0

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

316.907 310.830 313.906 3.7 -0.9 1.0

Dairy and related products

272.025 273.558 271.962 8.7 0.0 -0.6

Fruits and vegetables

331.366 326.672 325.434 1.8 -1.8 -0.4

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials

213.327 214.703 214.712 11.7 0.6 0.0

Other food at home

266.207 268.229 271.582 11.4 2.0 1.3

Food away from home

342.563 345.117 347.009 8.5 1.3 0.5

Alcoholic beverages

263.094 263.152 262.157 4.0 -0.4 -0.4

Housing

294.492 295.573 297.075 9.1 0.9 0.5

Shelter

339.967 341.971 344.203 10.0 1.2 0.7

Rent of primary residence

362.735 364.547 367.578 11.6 1.3 0.8

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)

341.669 342.975 345.245 10.1 1.0 0.7

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)

341.662 342.969 345.245 10.1 1.0 0.7

Fuels and utilities

294.649 288.244 287.116 6.5 -2.6 -0.4

Household energy

242.743 235.721 234.178 6.9 -3.5 -0.7

Energy services

242.341 235.229 233.764 7.2 -3.5 -0.6

Electricity

235.948 229.826 229.237 8.7 -2.8 -0.3

Utility (piped) gas service

264.777 251.697 244.561 -1.1 -7.6 -2.8

Household furnishings and operations

147.904 149.782 150.342 6.0 1.6 0.4

Apparel

140.727 142.281 140.673 3.3 0.0 -1.1

Transportation

260.983 263.496 269.483 0.1 3.3 2.3

Private transportation

262.642 264.889 270.944 0.1 3.2 2.3

New and used motor vehicles(2)

127.396 128.373 130.497 -0.1 2.4 1.7

New vehicles

185.889 186.348 186.907 5.4 0.5 0.3

New cars and trucks(2)(3)

- - - - - -

New cars(3)

184.477 185.123 185.786 5.1 0.7 0.4

Used cars and trucks

183.625 185.448 194.117 -6.7 5.7 4.7

Motor fuel

281.557 281.790 300.145 -12.9 6.6 6.5

Gasoline (all types)

278.990 279.761 298.779 -12.6 7.1 6.8

Unleaded regular(3)

272.410 273.206 292.296 -12.8 7.3 7.0

Unleaded midgrade(3)(4)

312.053 312.765 331.493 -11.8 6.2 6.0

Unleaded premium(3)

304.849 305.332 321.912 -10.7 5.6 5.4

Medical care

521.410 520.611 519.128 1.2 -0.4 -0.3

Medical care commodities

371.540 374.010 376.924 4.1 1.4 0.8

Medical care services

571.949 569.920 566.788 0.4 -0.9 -0.5

Professional services

393.158 393.582 393.693 1.5 0.1 0.0

Recreation(2)

136.204 135.715 135.644 4.4 -0.4 -0.1

Education and communication(2)

140.415 140.731 140.536 1.3 0.1 -0.1

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(5)

1,446.972 1,455.917 1,456.061 3.8 0.6 0.0

Other goods and services

506.826 506.170 509.303 6.3 0.5 0.6

Commodity and service group

All Items

292.285 293.358 295.315 5.5 1.0 0.7

Commodities

219.903 220.572 223.151 1.9 1.5 1.2

Commodities less food and beverages

177.777 178.476 181.267 -1.2 2.0 1.6

Nondurables less food and beverages

230.438 231.318 236.303 -1.7 2.5 2.2

Nondurables less food, beverages, and apparel

284.708 285.243 293.925 -2.8 3.2 3.0

Durables

129.201 129.720 131.136 -0.3 1.5 1.1

Services

364.960 366.451 367.686 8.0 0.7 0.3

Rent of shelter(1)

350.102 352.190 354.466 10.1 1.2 0.6

Transportation services

435.834 445.923 448.233 14.2 2.8 0.5

Other services

386.697 386.691 386.144 3.8 -0.1 -0.1

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

279.576 280.730 282.836 5.9 1.2 0.8

All items less food

288.403 289.559 291.571 5.1 1.1 0.7

All items less shelter

274.853 275.551 277.409 3.4 0.9 0.7

Commodities less food

180.429 181.120 183.855 -1.0 1.9 1.5

Nondurables

269.243 269.912 273.187 3.2 1.5 1.2

Nondurables less food

231.951 232.786 237.447 -1.4 2.4 2.0

Nondurables less food and apparel

281.356 281.851 289.703 -2.4 3.0 2.8

Services less rent of shelter(1)

394.899 395.598 395.417 5.5 0.1 0.0

Services less medical care services

345.864 347.595 349.133 9.0 0.9 0.4

Energy

255.361 251.710 259.068 -5.1 1.5 2.9

All items less energy

297.728 299.241 300.717 6.6 1.0 0.5

All items less food and energy

295.124 296.801 298.270 6.3 1.1 0.5

Commodities less food and energy commodities

168.789 169.523 170.780 2.0 1.2 0.7

Energy commodities

286.968 287.129 305.274 -12.8 6.4 6.3

Services less energy services

377.962 380.313 381.819 8.0 1.0 0.4

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.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023