Consumer Price Index, South Region – November 2010 (PDF)

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South was unchanged in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that prices for energy (-0.2 percent) and for food (0.1 percent) were little changed over the month, while prices for all items less food and energy were unchanged. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U rose 1.1 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.9 percent over the year. (See chart 1.)

Chart 1. 12-month percent change in CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), South region, November 2007-November 2010

Food

Food prices inched up 0.1 percent in November as prices for food away from home edged up 0.1 percent and those for food at home were unchanged.

Over the year, the index for food advanced 1.5 percent. Prices for food at home rose 1.9 percent and prices for food away from home increased 1.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index edged down 0.2 percent in November following a 0.2-percent increase in October. Within the energy index, prices decreased 2.4 percent for both electricity and utility (piped) gas service since October. In contrast, prices for motor fuel increased 1.4 percent over the month.

Over the year, the energy index rose 2.2 percent as higher prices for motor fuel (6.7 percent) were partially offset by lower prices for electricity (-3.1 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (-6.5 percent).

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy was unchanged in November. Among the components of the index, prices for apparel recorded a seasonal decline of 0.7 percent and those for education and communication edged down 0.2 percent over the month. New vehicle costs rose 0.3 percent over the month.

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent. Higher prices for medical care (3.3 percent), shelter (0.5 percent), and education and communication (1.8 percent) contributed to the increase.

The Consumer Price Index for December 2010 is scheduled to be released on Friday, January 14, 2011 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 87 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 percent of the total 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 25,000 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 the items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period “market basket” of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/homch17_a.htm.

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; TDD message referral phone number: (800) 877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on Consumer Price Indexes, as well as other Bureau products, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.