March 29, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Consumer prices in the South rise
1.5 percent in 1998
In the South region, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U) rose 1.5 percent from December 1997 to December 1998, just below the
national rise of 1.6 percent. The South CPI had risen 1.5 percent in 1997. The CPI-U
measures retail price changes for goods and services purchased by consumers in
metropolitan areas.
![Annual change in the South Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers) and components, 1998](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120925085814im_/http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/images/1999/Mar/wk5/art01.gif)
[Chart data—TXT]
In the South, housing prices rose 2.2 percent over the year, with the cost of shelter
increasing 3.3 percent, the cost of fuels and utilities declining 2.3 percent, and the
cost of household furnishings and operations growing 1.1 percent. Price increases also
were reported in "other goods and services", medical care, recreation, and food
and beverages. The "other goods and services" increase—which includes price
changes for tobacco products—was the largest since 1982.
Price decreases in the South region from December 1997 to December 1998 were reported
in apparel and transportation. Within transportation, gasoline prices declined 15.5
percent over the year. Education and communication items experienced a small price
increase.
These data are produced by the BLS Consumer Price
Index program. More information can be obtained in news release "Consumer Prices
in the South: December 1998." Annual comparisons are based on changes in indexes from
December 1997 to December 1998.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »