Consumer prices in the South region rose slightly in July, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent over the month. Excluding food and energy, the index also rose 0.1 percent.
Food prices went up by 0.3 percent in July, with both grocery store purchases and food away from home increasing at the same rate. Within groceries, meats, poultry, fish, and eggs saw a notable rise of 1.0 percent.
Energy prices edged up by 0.1 percent during July. The natural gas index increased by 0.5 percent while electricity and gasoline indexes remained unchanged.
Over the past year, consumer prices in the South have risen by 2.3 percent—the same rate as reported for June’s annual period. The index for all items less food and energy was up 2.8 percent year-over-year.
The annual increase in food prices reached 2.8 percent as well; food away from home climbed 3.9 percent while grocery store purchases were up by 2.0 percent compared to last year.
Energy costs dropped over the past twelve months, with an overall decline of 3.4 percent in that category driven largely by an 11.6-percent decrease in gasoline prices since last July; however, electricity rose by 5.2 percent and natural gas surged by 10.5 percent during this period.
Shelter costs continued to climb—up by 0.2 percent for July and showing a yearly increase of 3.4 percent—with owners’ equivalent rent rising even higher at a rate of 3.8 percent annually.
Other price movements included an increase of used cars and trucks (up by 0.8 percent) while apparel saw a decrease (down by -1.8 percent) during July.
The next release of regional CPI data is scheduled for September 11, when figures for August will be published at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm.
The Consumer Price Index measures average changes in prices paid over time on a fixed basket of goods and services across urban consumers; regional indexes such as those for the South are compiled monthly but include fewer components than national averages due to program structure details available at https://www.bls.gov/cpi/technical-notes/home.htm or through the BLS Handbook of Methods at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.
Historical data series—including original index values and percentage changes over various periods—can be accessed via BLS query tools linked within Table 1 of each release or directly through their website: https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0300SA0?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true
The South region covers Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
