The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 0.9 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the bi-monthly increase in the all items index was largely attributed to increases in the shelter and gasoline indexes. (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 3.7 percent for the 12 months ending in March. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.3 percent over the past year. The food index and the energy index also increased over the last 12 months, up 0.8 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, March 2021–March 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Mar 2021	4.9	4.3
May 2021	6.2	5.2
Jul 2021	6.6	5.7
Sep 2021	6.1	5.3
Nov 2021	8.0	6.7
Jan 2022	9.6	9.0
Mar 2022	10.2	8.8
May 2022	11.3	9.9
Jul 2022	11.2	10.1
Sep 2022	10.5	10.1
Nov 2022	9.6	9.7
Jan 2023	8.9	8.7
Mar 2023	7.7	9.3
May 2023	7.3	9.0
Jul 2023	5.9	7.3
Sep 2023	6.7	7.3
Nov 2023	5.2	6.0
Jan 2024	3.9	4.8
Mar 2024	3.7	4.3

The food index declined 2.3 percent from January to March, reflecting decreases in the food at home (-2.1 percent) and food away from home (-2.6 percent) indexes. Within the food at home index, five of the six major grocery store food group indexes decreased over the bi-monthly period, including meats, poultry, fish, and eggs (-3.8 percent) and cereals and bakery products (-5.4 percent). The index for fruits and vegetables rose 1.6 percent from January to March.

The food index advanced 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending in March, led by a 1.6-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the past year, up 0.2 percent. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the last 12 months, including fruits and vegetables (+2.7 percent) and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+2.4 percent) indexes. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs fell 2.5 percent over the past year, while the index for other food at home declined 0.4 percent.

The energy index rose 3.2 percent from January to March, reflecting a 11.6-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the index for electricity declined 5.9 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The energy index increased 1.6 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The gasoline index contributed to the increase, up 4.4 percent over the past year. The index for electricity declined 3.6 percent over the last 12 months.  

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.1 percent from January to March. The shelter index increased 0.9 percent over the bi-monthly period, reflecting increases in the owners’ equivalent rent (+0.4 percent) and rent of primary residence (+1.1 percent) indexes. Other indexes with notable increases over the bi-monthly period include new and used motor vehicles (+2.5 percent), recreation (+3.0 percent), and medical care (+1.1 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for shelter (+5.9 percent) was the largest contributor as owners’ equivalent rent (+5.5 percent) and rent of primary residence (+6.7 percent) continued to increase over the past year. The index for medical care also increased over the past year, up 6.4 percent.

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Consumer Price Index for May 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

The Consumer Price Index for Tampa 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 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Core Based Statistical Area includes Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.