Fox : Consumer Price Index, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell – December 2019

News Release Information

20-51-ATL
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Area prices down 0.3 percent since October; up 3.3 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell declined 0.3 percent from October to December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index declined 0.5 percent and the energy index fell 1.4 percent over the bi-monthly period. The food index increased 1.4 percent since October 2019. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

From December 2018 to December 2019, the all items CPI-U increased 3.3 percent. Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent, the energy index advanced 7.7 percent, and the food index increased 3.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.4 percent from October to December, led by a 2.1-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index rose 0.6 percent from October to December.

The food index advanced 3.5 percent for the 12 months ending December 2019, reflecting increases in the food away from home (4.0 percent) and the food at home (3.1 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index fell 1.4 percent from October to December, led by a 3.1-percent decline in the gasoline index. The electricity index was unchanged from October to December.

The energy index advanced 7.7 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the gasoline (10.6 percent) and the electricity (10.8 percent) indexes.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.5 percent from October to December, led by a seasonal decrease in the apparel (-11.5 percent) index. Indexes also contributing to the decrease included household furnishings and operations (-3.8 percent) and new vehicles (-1.5 percent). In contrast, shelter (0.7 percent) and medical care (2.1 percent) were among the indexes to increase over the bi-monthly period.

From December 2018 to December 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent. Several indexes contributed to the increase, most notably shelter (4.7 percent) and medical care (11.6 percent). In contrast, the new vehicles index declined 9.5 percent over the past year.

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.0	-0.3	0.3	1.6	1.2	3.5	1.2	3.3	1.2	1.3
April	0.7	-0.5	1.0	1.9	0.6	3.2	0.2	2.8	1.4	2.5
June	2.5	0.6	1.3	0.7	1.3	3.2	1.2	2.8	-0.1	1.1
August	-0.1	0.6	0.5	1.2	0.8	3.5	0.3	2.2	1.3	2.2
October	-1.2	0.5	-0.1	2.4	-0.3	3.2	-1.0	1.6	-0.2	3.0
December	-0.6	1.4	-0.4	2.6	-0.4	3.2	-0.6	1.4	-0.3	3.3

The Consumer Price Index for January 2020 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 13, 2020.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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 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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jasper, Lamar, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, Paulding, Pickens, Pike, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton Counties in Georgia.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	245.860	-	245.076	3.3	-0.3	-
All items (1967=100)	741.439	-	739.074	-	-	-
Food and beverages	259.085	-	262.615	3.4	1.4	-
Food	269.610	-	273.464	3.5	1.4	-
Food at home	245.004	250.312	250.210	3.1	2.1	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	220.701	-	219.600	0.9	-0.5	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	275.707	-	286.604	4.3	4.0	-
Dairy and related products	236.641	-	236.248	8.0	-0.2	-
Fruits and vegetables	287.633	-	286.147	-2.1	-0.5	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	257.142	-	259.554	5.7	0.9	-
Other food at home	201.933	-	212.039	3.4	5.0	-
Food away from home	308.432	-	310.304	4.0	0.6	-
Alcoholic beverages	165.397	-	165.516	2.6	0.1	-
Housing	255.201	-	255.709	4.3	0.2	-
Shelter	283.221	283.798	285.289	4.7	0.7	0.5
Rent of primary residence	292.899	293.959	296.235	5.0	1.1	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	276.975	277.504	279.431	4.6	0.9	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	276.975	277.504	279.431	4.6	0.9	0.7
Fuels and utilities	294.601	-	295.450	4.3	0.3	-
Household energy	251.275	251.654	252.109	5.0	0.3	0.2
Energy Services	249.554	249.928	250.379	5.1	0.3	0.2
Electricity	212.225	212.225	212.225	10.8	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	305.610	307.045	-	-	-	-
Household furnishings and operations	129.854	-	124.948	1.7	-3.8	-
Apparel	145.249	-	128.527	-0.5	-11.5	-
Transportation	206.579	-	203.229	0.6	-1.6	-
Private transportation	206.280	-	203.601	0.6	-1.3	-
New and used motor vehicles	100.254	-	99.276	-5.5	-1.0	-
New vehicles	204.552	-	201.476	-9.5	-1.5	-
Used cars and trucks	210.781	-	208.669	-1.1	-1.0	-
Motor fuel	220.905	220.607	214.185	10.4	-3.0	-2.9
Gasoline (all types)	219.342	219.069	212.643	10.6	-3.1	-2.9
Unleaded regular	214.449	214.108	207.742	10.9	-3.1	-3.0
Unleaded midgrade	275.864	276.734	268.284	9.0	-2.7	-3.1
Unleaded premium	240.886	241.078	234.893	8.6	-2.5	-2.6
Motor vehicle insurance	1,217.012	-	1,217.012	3.4	0.0	-
Medical Care	479.767	-	489.771	11.6	2.1	-
Recreation	82.381	-	81.566	-2.7	-1.0	-
Education and communication	137.330	-	137.201	1.5	-0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,462.326	-	1,461.227	2.7	-0.1	-
Other goods and services	392.455	-	394.030	3.2	0.4	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	245.860	-	245.076	3.3	-0.3	-
Commodities	181.141	-	178.323	2.6	-1.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	146.213	-	141.701	2.1	-3.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	189.005	-	182.855	7.3	-3.3	-
Durables	105.894	-	102.829	-3.3	-2.9	-
Services	306.759	-	307.994	3.7	0.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	233.515	-	232.292	2.6	-0.5	-
All items less shelter	234.279	-	232.265	2.6	-0.9	-
Commodities less food	146.575	-	142.168	2.1	-3.0	-
Nondurables	219.755	-	217.633	5.3	-1.0	-
Nondurables less food	186.166	-	180.394	7.1	-3.1	-
Services less rent of shelter	347.829	-	347.900	2.6	0.0	-
Services less medical care services	289.501	-	290.444	3.2	0.3	-
Energy	215.275	215.278	212.189	7.7	-1.4	-1.4
All items less energy	248.865	-	248.328	2.9	-0.2	-
All items less food and energy	245.950	-	244.805	2.8	-0.5	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.