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Area prices up 2.6 percent over the past 12 months

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell rose 0.7 percent from April to June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the bi-monthly all items increase was largely attributed to a seasonal increase in the electricity index. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U advanced 2.6 percent for the 12 months ending in June. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.5 percent over the past year. The energy index and the food index also increased over the last 12 months, up 3.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.9 percent from April to June, led by a 1.2-percent increase in the food at home index. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the two-month period, including a 2.8-percent increase in the index for other food at home. Other indexes with notable increases over the two-month period include meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (+1.2 percent) and dairy and related products (+2.8 percent). In contrast, the index for cereals and bakery products declined 1.7 percent over the same period.

The index for food away from home continued to increase over the bi-monthly period, up 0.4 percent.

The food index advanced 2.2 percent for the 12 months ending in June, primarily reflecting a 4.7-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the past year, up 0.6 percent. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the last 12 months, including other food at home (+2.1 percent) and fruits and vegetables (+1.4 percent). In comparison, the indexes for cereals bakery products (-3.2 percent) and dairy and related products (-2.8 percent) declined over the past year.

Energy

The energy index advanced 5.6 percent from April to June, reflecting a 19.4-percent seasonal increase in the electricity index. In contrast, the index for gasoline declined 2.2 percent from April to June, as did the index for natural gas.

The energy index increased 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending in June, reflecting increases in the electricity (+5.1 percent), gasoline (+1.8 percent) and natural gas (+6.2 percent) indexes.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent from April to June, led by increases in the household furnishings and operations (+2.7 percent) and shelter (+0.2 percent) indexes. The indexes for owners’ equivalent rent and rent of primary residence also increased over the two-month period, up 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.5 percent for the 12 months ending in June. The shelter index (+3.3 percent) was the largest contributor as the indexes for owners’ equivalent (+4.9 percent) and rent of primary residence (+3.2 percent) also increased over the past year. In contrast, the index for used cars and trucks declined 11.0 percent over the past 12 months.

Table A. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted Month 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month 2-month 12-month

February

0.8 2.9 1.6 2.4 2.3 10.6 1.5 7.2 1.3 3.3

April

-1.8 -0.3 1.6 6.0 1.9 10.8 0.5 5.8 0.3 3.1

June

1.1 0.9 1.8 6.7 2.4 11.5 1.2 4.6 0.7 2.6

August

1.2 0.7 1.1 6.6 1.3 11.7 1.1 4.4

October

0.3 1.2 1.5 7.9 0.5 10.7 -0.6 3.2

December

0.1 1.6 1.9 9.8 -0.5 8.1 -0.1 3.6

The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell Consumer Price Index for August 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index for Atlanta is published bi-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 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Core Based Statistical Area 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.

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