Gasoline prices averaged $1.988 a gallon in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area in March 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that area gasoline prices were down 53.3 cents compared to last March when they averaged $2.521 per gallon. Miami area households paid an average of 11.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity in March 2016, down from 11.9 cents per kWh in March 2015. The average price of utility (piped) gas at $1.473 per therm in March, was less than the $1.531 per therm spent last year. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Miami area consumers paid $1.988 a gallon for gasoline in March 2016, similar to the $2.021 paid nationally. A year earlier, consumers in the Miami area paid $2.521 for a gallon of gas which was similar to the national average. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in Miami in the month of March has been comparable to the nation for each of the last five years. (See chart 1.)

The 11.3 cents per kWh Miami households paid for electricity in March 2016 was 15.7 percent less than the nationwide average of 13.4 cents per kWh. Last March, electricity costs were 12.5 percent lower in Miami compared to the nation. The local price of electricity in the Miami area in March was at least 10 percent less than the U.S. in each of the last five years. (See chart 2.)

Prices paid by Miami area consumers for utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, were $1.473 per therm, or 66.6 percent higher than the national average in March 2016 ($0.884 per therm). A year earlier, area consumers paid 55.4 percent more per therm for natural gas than the nation.
In three of the last five years, the per therm cost for natural gas in the Miami area exceeded the U.S. average by more than 52 percent in the month of March. (See chart 3.)

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Broward and Miami-Dade Counties in Florida.

The Consumer Price Index for April 2016 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 17, 2016.

Technical Note

Average prices are estimated from Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for selected commodity series to support the research and analytic needs of CPI data users. Average prices for electricity, utility (piped) gas, and gasoline are published monthly for the U.S. city average, the 4 regions, the 3 population size classes, 10 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 14 largest local index areas. For electricity, average prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are published. For utility (piped) gas, average prices per therm are published. For gasoline, the average price per gallon is published. Average prices for commonly available grades of gasoline are published as well as the average price across all grades.

All eligible prices are converted to a price per normalized quantity. These prices are then used to estimate a price for a defined fixed quantity. The average price per kilowatt-hour represents the total bill divided by the kilowatt-hour usage. The total bill is the sum of all items applicable to all consumers appearing on an electricity bill including, but not limited to, variable rates per kWh, fixed costs, taxes, surcharges, and credits. This calculation also applies to the average price per therm for utility (piped) gas.

Information from 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. Average prices for gasoline, electricity, and utility (piped) gas, Miami-Fort Lauderdale and the United States, March 2015–2016, not seasonally adjusted

Year and month	Gasoline per gallon		Electricity per kWh		Utility (piped) gas per therm
	Miami area	United States	Miami area	United States	Miami area	United States
2015
March	2.521	2.544	0.119	0.136	1.531	0.985
April	2.570	2.545	0.119	0.137	1.507	0.947
May	2.687	2.832	0.116	0.137	1.529	0.930
June	2.776	2.889	0.116	0.143	1.547	0.942
July	2.752	2.893	0.116	0.142	1.518	0.933
August	2.556	2.745	0.116	0.142	1.518	0.932
September	2.342	2.463	0.116	0.141	1.518	0.921
October	2.274	2.357	0.116	0.136	1.518	0.909
November	2.225	2.249	0.116	0.134	1.519	0.903
December	2.154	2.125	0.116	0.133	1.519	0.892
2016
January	2.041	2.034	0.112	0.134	1.509	0.898
February	1.884	1.833	0.112	0.134	1.509	0.895
March	1.988	2.021	0.113	0.134	1.473	0.884