The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the South rose 0.4 percent in March, after increasing 0.6 percent in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent from February to March. The food index increased 0.1 percent over the month, while the energy index declined 1.4 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 5.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March, after increasing 6.4-percent for the 12-month period ending in February. The index for all items less food and energy rose 6.3 percent over the last 12 months. The food index continued to increase, up 8.6 percent over the past year. In contrast, the energy index decreased 8.3 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, South region, March 2020–March 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2020	1.1	1.8
Apr 2020	-0.2	1.0
May 2020	-0.4	0.8
Jun 2020	0.3	0.8
Jul 2020	0.6	1.2
Aug 2020	1.1	1.6
Sep 2020	1.3	1.8
Oct 2020	1.3	1.7
Nov 2020	1.2	1.6
Dec 2020	1.4	1.7
Jan 2021	1.6	1.8
Feb 2021	2.0	1.6
Mar 2021	2.9	1.9
Apr 2021	4.4	3.3
May 2021	5.6	4.3
Jun 2021	5.8	5.0
Jul 2021	5.8	4.8
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

The food index rose 0.1 percent in March. A 0.7-percent increase in the food away from home index was offset by a 0.2 percent decrease in the food at home index. Within the food at home index, the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs declined 1.9 percent in March, while the index for fruits and vegetables declined 1.4 percent.

The food index advanced 8.6 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The food at home index rose 8.8 percent over the past year as all six major grocery store food group indexes increased. The food away from home index also continued to increase over the last 12 months, up 8.2 percent.

The energy index declined 1.4 percent in March, reflecting a 4.9 percent decline in the natural gas index. In contrast, the gasoline index rose 0.3 percent in March.  

The energy index fell 8.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March, largely due to a 20.0 percent decline in the gasoline index. Over the year, the natural gas index rose 5.2 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in March, primarily reflecting a 0.6-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 0.4 percent over the month and rent of primary residence rose 0.5 percent. Household furnishings (+1.3 percent) was also among the indexes to increase in March.  

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 6.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March, after increasing 6.2 percent over the 12-month period ending in February. Several components contributed to the 12-month increase, most notably, shelter (+9.9 percent). Within shelter, owner’s equivalent rent increased 9.9 percent over the past year and rent of primary residence increased 11.4 percent. In contrast, used car and trucks index declined 11.4 percent over the year.

Additional price indexes are now available for the three divisions of the South. In March, the all items index increased 0.5 percent in the South Atlantic division, 0.3 percent in the East South Central division and 0.2 percent in the West South Central division.

Over the year, the all items index advanced 5.6 percent in the South Atlantic division, 5.2 percent in the East South Central division, and 4.7 percent in the West South Central division.

The Consumer Price Index for April 2023 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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.