The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 1.0 percent from March to May, 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 also increased 1.0 percent over the bi-monthly period. The food index and the energy index also increased from March to May, up 1.6 percent and 0.7 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 6.2 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The index for all items less food and energy increased 5.2 percent over the past 12 months, while the energy index jumped 33.1 percent. The food index rose 1.8 percent over the past year. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.6 percent from March to May, reflecting a 3.2-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index edged down 0.3 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The food index increased 1.8 percent for the 12 months ending in May. The food at home and the food away from home indexes each increased over the year, up 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.  

Energy

The energy index increased 0.7 percent from March to May, reflecting increases in the gasoline (1.0 percent) and electricity (0.3 percent) indexes. The utility (piped) gas service index was unchanged over the bi-monthly period.

The energy index jumped 33.1 percent for the 12 months ending in May, primarily due to a 56.9-percent spike in the gasoline index. The electricity index advanced 15.4 percent over the past 12 months, while the utility (piped) gas service index declined 5.2 percent over the past year.  

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.0 percent from March to May, led by increases in the shelter (1.4 percent) and the used cars and trucks (16.6 percent) indexes. In contrast, the household furnishings and operations index declined 3.6 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the medical care index edged down 0.4 percent from March.   

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 5.2 percent for the 12 months ending in May, led by a 5.2-percent increase in the shelter index. The medical care index rose sharply over the past 12 months, up 6.6 percent, while the used cars and trucks index jumped 28.0 percent over the past year.

Table A. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted

Month	2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	-1.1	0.4	0.7	3.8	0.9	3.4
March	1.9	1.7	0.2	2.1	1.6	4.9
May	0.9	2.2	-0.3	0.9	1.0	6.2
July	0.1	2.1	1.0	1.8
September	-0.1	1.5	1.4	3.3
November	0.2	2.0	0.1	3.2

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

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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, 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 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 sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes and percent changes for selected periods,
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1987=100 unless otherwise noted) (not seasonally adjusted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	May 2021	May 2020	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	242.910	-	245.419	6.2	1.0	-
Food and beverages	251.282	-	254.798	1.9	1.4	-
Food	251.551	-	255.638	1.8	1.6	-
Food at home	258.276	264.367	266.464	2.4	3.2	0.8
Cereals and bakery products	276.360	-	279.490	3.8	1.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	249.616	-	263.282	-0.3	5.5	-
Dairy and related products	253.206	-	258.651	6.4	2.2	-
Fruits and vegetables	365.757	-	385.421	8.5	5.4	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	195.870	-	204.525	-0.3	4.4	-
Other food at home	203.639	-	203.203	0.2	-0.2	-
Food away from home	242.404	-	241.615	1.1	-0.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	231.611	-	228.639	3.1	-1.3	-
Housing	249.333	-	251.466	5.5	0.9	-
Shelter	287.198	288.098	291.279	5.2	1.4	1.1
Rent of primary residence	291.830	294.199	296.665	4.9	1.7	0.8
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	302.408	302.432	306.278	4.9	1.3	1.3
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	302.408	302.432	306.278	4.9	1.3	1.3
Fuels and utilities	213.831	-	214.367	11.5	0.3	-
Household energy	165.060	165.493	165.634	14.7	0.3	0.1
Energy Services	162.855	163.286	163.286	14.7	0.3	0.0
Electricity	160.398	160.835	160.835	15.4	0.3	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	219.822	219.822	219.833	-5.2	0.0	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	133.955	-	129.125	1.9	-3.6	-
Apparel	126.767	-	126.543	5.5	-0.2	-
Transportation	215.381	-	220.895	17.9	2.6	-
Private transportation	222.500	-	227.290	18.6	2.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(1)	114.810	-	119.677	9.3	4.2	-
New vehicles	129.510	-	128.834	2.3	-0.5	-
Used cars and trucks	145.869	-	170.024	28.0	16.6	-
Motor fuel	298.562	292.399	301.665	56.0	1.0	3.2
Gasoline (all types)	292.315	286.147	295.163	56.9	1.0	3.2
Unleaded regular(2)	282.676	275.623	284.928	58.8	0.8	3.4
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	298.315	294.704	300.398	54.5	0.7	1.9
Unleaded premium(2)	326.760	328.722	334.389	44.0	2.3	1.7
Motor vehicle insurance	614.846	-	614.846	25.2	0.0	-
Medical Care	437.976	-	436.170	6.6	-0.4	-
Recreation(1)	123.923	-	125.061	-0.2	0.9	-
Education and communication(1)	135.279	-	135.042	3.4	-0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	644.253	-	644.253	2.1	0.0	-
Other goods and services	305.474	-	312.177	3.7	2.2	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	242.910	-	245.419	6.2	1.0	-
Commodities	183.449	-	185.841	7.1	1.3	-
Commodities less food & beverages	149.338	-	151.181	11.3	1.2	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	209.849	-	210.444	16.3	0.3	-
Durables	96.224	-	98.355	6.8	2.2	-
Services	295.773	-	298.424	5.8	0.9	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	232.472	-	235.179	6.2	1.2	-
All items less shelter	224.480	-	226.256	6.9	0.8	-
Commodities less food	153.219	-	154.901	10.9	1.1	-
Nondurables	231.207	-	233.389	7.3	0.9	-
Nondurables less food	211.637	-	211.901	14.8	0.1	-
Services less rent of shelter	301.002	-	301.536	6.5	0.2	-
Services less medical care services	279.933	-	283.019	5.5	1.1	-
Energy	216.819	214.762	218.353	33.1	0.7	1.7
All items less energy	244.800	-	247.385	4.7	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	243.967	-	246.316	5.2	1.0	-
Footnotes (1) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base. (2) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (3) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.
- Data not available.