Atlanta area CPI falls more than 0.5% since August, BLS reports

ATLANTA — Ahead of the holiday season, and aiming for Thanksgiving, inflation is the talk of the nation.

You’ve heard speeches about bad policies impacting prices at gas pumps, grocery stores, Wall Street, and the housing market.

So, how bad is inflation in the Atlanta area, and what’s the biggest driver?

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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday that nationally, the Consumer Price Index had remained in place but not frozen.

For both the months of September and October, inflation year-over-year was 3.2% before seasonal adjustments.

BLS said that the price of housing had increased, while gasoline costs had fallen, balancing out the inflation level across the United States.

However, Atlanta’s CPI tells a different story.

On the surface, Atlanta was level with the nation.

Just like the rest of the U.S., Atlanta’s CPI was 3.2% in the past year.

While the national CPI comes out every month, regional inflation measures are published on a rotating, multi-month basis.

From August to October, the Atlanta area inflation rate actually fell more than half of a percent.

According to BLS regional commissioner Victoria G. Lee, the decrease across the board was due to drops in gasoline and energy costs, specifically electricity.

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That said, food prices in the area, particularly for food away from home, were higher than at the end of summer.

In addition to food prices going up, the cost of shelter like rent or mortgages went up more than a quarter-point.

“The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3% from August to October, led by a 0.3% increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent increased 0.6% over the bi-monthly period and rent of primary residence increased 1.1%,” BLS reported.

While food and energy prices went in opposite directions, BLS reported that everything else went up a collective 3.4%.

Shelter, in particular, was the largest driver of inflation pressure, with BLS reporting it as making gup 6.7% of all price increases.

Since October 2022, Atlanta area rental prices were up 9.2%, while mortgages were up 6.5%.

Nationally, shelter was still the big bump for inflation.

BLS reported shelter costs continued to rise in October for the whole country, offsetting the impacts of gasoline costs shrinking.

Heading into the holidays, food prices are labels to watch, especially if you’re planning on cooking a bird.

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While the costs of chicken were collectively down about 0.4%, fresh chickens were 2.3% more expensive, and other uncooked poultry (yes turkey) was 7.2% more expensive, according to the federal cost data.

In Atlanta, poultry costs were on the rise, up more than 5% since last year.

Still, the overall outlook showed a decline of 0.6%, meaning inflation overall isn’t getting worse for the Atlanta area.

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