The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area rose 0.3 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index was 2.0 percent higher compared to its first half 2014 level as price increases were noted for several categories, most notably shelter and medical care. Food prices advanced 3.7 percent over the year while the index for energy fell 18.2 percent. (See chart 1.)

Food

Food prices advanced 3.7 percent since the first half of 2014, led by a 4.4-percent increase in prices for food at home. Prices for food away from home were up 2.2 percent over-the-year.

Energy

The energy index experienced it’s largest over-the-year decline in the history of the index, dropping 18.2 percent from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015 primarily due to a 30.7 percent fall in prices for motor fuel. Prices also declined for electricity (-0.7 percent) and utility (piped) gas service (-2.3 percent) over-the-year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 2.0 percent since the first half of 2014. Several components contributed to the increase including shelter (4.8 percent), medical care (2.2 percent), and recreation (1.7 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for August 2015 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 16, 2015.

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 89 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 28 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 87 urban areas across the country from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, 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, Fla. metropolitan statistical area covered in this release is comprised of Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties in Florida.

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.

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