Consumer Price Index, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell – December 2021

News Release Information

22-61-ATL
Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Area prices up 9.8 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell increased 1.9 percent from October to December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.0 percent over the bi-monthly period. The energy index and the food index also increased from October to December, up 2.2 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. (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 9.8 percent for the 12 months ending in December. The index for all items less food and energy increased 9.3 percent over the past year, while the energy index rose 28.6 percent. The food index rose 2.6 percent over the past year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

The food index rose 0.9 percent from October to December, led by a 1.6 percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 0.3 percent.

The food index increased 2.6 percent for the 12 months ending in December. The food away from home index and the food at home index increased over the past year, up 3.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

Energy

The energy index rose 2.2 percent from October to December, reflecting a 1.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index was unchanged over the bi-monthly period.

The energy index increased 28.6 percent for the 12 months ending in December, led by a 55.7-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index also increased over the past 12 months, up 1.4 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.0 percent from October to December, led by increases in the shelter (1.4 percent) and used cars and trucks (5.9 percent) indexes.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 9.3 percent for the 12 months ending in December. Several indexes contributed to the increase, most notably shelter (7.7 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 30.8 percent over the past year, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (37.2 percent) and new vehicles (32.2 percent) indexes.

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	1.2	3.5	1.2	3.3	1.2	1.3	0.8	2.9	1.6	2.4
April	0.6	3.2	0.2	2.8	1.4	2.5	-1.8	-0.3	1.6	6.0
June	1.3	3.2	1.2	2.8	-0.1	1.1	1.1	0.9	1.8	6.7
August	0.8	3.5	0.3	2.2	1.3	2.2	1.2	0.7	1.1	6.6
October	-0.3	3.2	-1.0	1.6	-0.2	3.0	0.3	1.2	1.5	7.9
December	-0.4	3.2	-0.6	1.4	-0.3	3.3	0.1	1.6	1.9	9.8

The Consumer Price Index for January 2022 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended almost entirely since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in December was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed.

While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month.

For each month from March 2020 to December 2021, BLS has published a summary of the impact of the pandemic on the Consumer Price Index news release and data. The impact summary for December is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/consumer-price-index-covid19-impacts-december-2021.htm. Beginning with publication of January 2022 data in February 2022, this month-specific impact summary will be discontinued. However, information related to the impact of the pandemic will continue to be available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.

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 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 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. 2021	Nov. 2021	Dec. 2021	Dec. 2020	Oct. 2021	Nov. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	268.362	-	273.424	9.8	1.9	-
All items (1967=100)	809.299	-	824.564	-	-	-
Food and beverages	274.944	-	277.321	2.5	0.9	-
Food	288.368	-	291.013	2.6	0.9	-
Food at home	265.999	266.092	266.777	1.9	0.3	0.3
Cereals and bakery products	229.593	-	227.379	1.1	-1.0	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	314.258	-	314.636	5.3	0.1	-
Dairy and related products	234.476	-	234.053	-4.7	-0.2	-
Fruits and vegetables	312.537	-	311.121	0.1	-0.5	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	271.756	-	280.100	6.5	3.1	-
Other food at home	223.633	-	224.521	0.4	0.4	-
Food away from home	324.495	-	329.573	3.3	1.6	-
Alcoholic beverages	156.604	-	156.726	1.4	0.1	-
Housing	276.960	-	281.966	7.4	1.8	-
Shelter	309.580	311.708	313.923	7.7	1.4	0.7
Rent of primary residence	327.271	330.103	332.425	8.1	1.6	0.7
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	302.748	304.988	307.958	7.5	1.7	1.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	302.748	304.988	307.958	7.5	1.7	1.0
Fuels and utilities	316.578	-	329.561	7.6	4.1	-
Household energy	272.466	278.637	280.785	6.5	3.1	0.8
Energy Services	270.548	276.633	278.783	6.3	3.0	0.8
Electricity	223.852	223.852	223.852	1.4	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	-	-	-	-	-	-
Household furnishings and operations	135.096	-	138.094	5.5	2.2	-
Apparel	149.834	-	151.087	14.2	0.8	-
Transportation	246.931	-	258.469	29.3	4.7	-
Private transportation	251.253	-	265.160	30.8	5.5	-
New and used motor vehicles	-	-	140.048	30.8	-	-
New vehicles	-	-	287.389	32.2	-	-
Used cars and trucks	295.245	-	312.553	37.2	5.9	-
Motor fuel	275.098	286.006	279.288	55.6	1.5	-2.3
Gasoline (all types)	273.391	284.223	277.500	55.7	1.5	-2.4
Unleaded regular	268.257	278.971	272.062	56.9	1.4	-2.5
Unleaded midgrade	342.247	355.284	349.073	51.9	2.0	-1.7
Unleaded premium	291.603	302.522	297.640	46.5	2.1	-1.6
Motor vehicle insurance	1,274.999	-	1,274.999	7.6	0.0	-
Medical Care	497.957	-	500.232	3.2	0.5	-
Recreation	89.818	-	89.102	6.3	-0.8	-
Education and communication	143.663	-	144.097	2.9	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,586.985	-	1,589.795	5.2	0.2	-
Other goods and services	424.641	-	437.392	8.1	3.0	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	268.362	-	273.424	9.8	1.9	-
Commodities	199.396	-	206.027	14.4	3.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages	164.696	-	172.435	22.1	4.7	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	205.628	-	208.347	20.6	1.3	-
Durables	124.163	-	134.673	23.7	8.5	-
Services	332.960	-	336.251	7.0	1.0	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	256.128	-	261.286	10.4	2.0	-
All items less shelter	255.464	-	260.884	10.8	2.1	-
Commodities less food	163.968	-	171.415	21.3	4.5	-
Nondurables	235.754	-	238.317	10.6	1.1	-
Nondurables less food	200.499	-	202.994	19.2	1.2	-
Services less rent of shelter	373.875	-	375.794	6.1	0.5	-
Services less medical care services	314.716	-	317.954	7.3	1.0	-
Energy	251.172	259.204	256.733	28.6	2.2	-1.0
All items less energy	270.022	-	275.032	8.3	1.9	-
All items less food and energy	267.559	-	272.936	9.3	2.0	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.