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

News Release Information

21-425-ATL
Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Area prices up 2.4 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell increased 1.6 percent from December to February, 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 rose 1.5 percent since December, while the energy index advanced 8.1 percent. In contrast, the food index declined 1.4 percent over the bi-monthly period. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U increased 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in February. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent over the year. The energy index rose 4.1 percent over the past 12 months, while the food index rose 2.3 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

View Chart Data

Food

The food index fell 1.4 percent from December to February, reflecting declines in the food away from home (-1.9 percent) and food at home (-0.9 percent) indexes.

The food index rose 2.3 percent for the 12 months ending in February, led by a 4.4-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the year, up 0.2 percent.

Energy

The energy index advanced 8.1 percent from December to February, led by a 16.8-percent jump in the gasoline index. The electricity index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 1.4 percent.

The energy index rose 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting increases in the gasoline (4.5 percent) and electricity (1.8 percent) indexes.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent from December to February. Among the indexes to increase over the bi-monthly period include shelter (0.9 percent), apparel (9.0 percent), and recreation (5.8 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent for the 12 months ending in February. Several indexes contributed to the increase, most notably shelter (2.1 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index advanced 5.5 percent over the past 12 months, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (8.1 percent) and new vehicles (4.4 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
June	1.3	3.2	1.2	2.8	-0.1	1.1	1.1	0.9
August	0.8	3.5	0.3	2.2	1.3	2.2	1.2	0.7
October	-0.3	3.2	-1.0	1.6	-0.2	3.0	0.3	1.2
December	-0.4	3.2	-0.6	1.4	-0.3	3.3	0.1	1.6

The Consumer Price Index for March 2021 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

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

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in February 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. Additional information is 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-
	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021	Feb. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	249.051	-	252.972	2.4	1.6	-
All items (1967=100)	751.062	-	762.886	-	-	-
Food and beverages	270.496	-	266.880	1.6	-1.3	-
Food	283.634	-	279.677	2.3	-1.4	-
Food at home	261.812	258.251	259.451	4.4	-0.9	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	224.850	-	224.593	2.6	-0.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	298.853	-	288.545	3.6	-3.4	-
Dairy and related products	245.648	-	248.858	3.3	1.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	310.763	-	304.271	5.2	-2.1	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	263.054	-	265.546	4.1	0.9	-
Other food at home	223.710	-	224.443	6.2	0.3	-
Food away from home	318.941	-	312.861	0.2	-1.9	-
Alcoholic beverages	154.624	-	153.885	-7.6	-0.5	-
Housing	262.417	-	264.770	2.6	0.9	-
Shelter	291.443	292.620	294.193	2.1	0.9	0.5
Rent of primary residence	307.515	308.985	310.509	4.3	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	286.507	287.790	288.956	2.9	0.9	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	286.507	287.790	288.956	2.9	0.9	0.4
Fuels and utilities	306.390	-	310.272	3.5	1.3	-
Household energy	263.571	265.854	266.585	3.8	1.1	0.3
Energy Services	262.164	264.450	265.069	3.8	1.1	0.2
Electricity	220.667	223.852	223.852	1.8	1.4	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	-	-	-	-	-	-
Household furnishings and operations	130.850	-	131.090	4.6	0.2	-
Apparel	132.337	-	144.205	2.6	9.0	-
Transportation	199.919	-	207.920	2.2	4.0	-
Private transportation	202.792	-	211.048	4.2	4.1	-
New and used motor vehicles	107.057	-	106.392	5.5	-0.6	-
New vehicles	217.370	-	219.851	4.4	1.1	-
Used cars and trucks	227.807	-	225.694	8.1	-0.9	-
Motor fuel	179.504	195.479	209.429	4.4	16.7	7.1
Gasoline (all types)	178.194	194.151	208.046	4.5	16.8	7.2
Unleaded regular	173.353	189.277	203.580	4.9	17.4	7.6
Unleaded midgrade	229.793	249.073	259.786	2.4	13.1	4.3
Unleaded premium	203.165	217.620	227.150	2.2	11.8	4.4
Motor vehicle insurance	1,184.960	-	1,249.058	1.0	5.4	-
Medical Care	484.903	-	489.980	1.4	1.0	-
Recreation	83.801	-	88.684	5.1	5.8	-
Education and communication	140.069	-	140.869	2.4	0.6	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,511.228	-	1,509.959	3.3	-0.1	-
Other goods and services	404.753	-	413.090	3.5	2.1	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	249.051	-	252.972	2.4	1.6	-
Commodities	180.027	-	183.235	2.5	1.8	-
Commodities less food & beverages	141.260	-	146.596	3.1	3.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	172.803	-	184.936	1.7	7.0	-
Durables	108.896	-	109.234	4.8	0.3	-
Services	314.227	-	318.785	2.3	1.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	236.649	-	240.492	2.5	1.6	-
All items less shelter	235.419	-	239.863	2.5	1.9	-
Commodities less food	141.357	-	146.463	2.7	3.6	-
Nondurables	215.507	-	220.672	1.7	2.4	-
Nondurables less food	170.334	-	181.366	1.0	6.5	-
Services less rent of shelter	354.328	-	361.402	2.5	2.0	-
Services less medical care services	296.201	-	300.452	2.1	1.4	-
Energy	199.586	208.538	215.830	4.1	8.1	3.5
All items less energy	253.977	-	256.652	2.3	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	249.772	-	253.460	2.3	1.5	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.