The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area rose 2.8 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index advanced 3.2 percent and the energy index rose 6.5 percent over-the-year. The food index declined 0.5 percent since the first half of 2016. (See chart 1.)

Food

Food prices declined 0.5 percent since the first half of 2016, reflecting price decreases for both food at home (-0.6 percent) and for food away from home (-0.4 percent).

Energy

The energy index rose 6.5 percent from the first half of 2016 to the first half of 2017, led by a 13.0-percent increase in motor fuel prices. Over the year, electricity prices were up 0.6 percent, while prices for utility (piped) gas service were down 5.9 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 3.2 percent since the first half of 2016. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (5.3 percent) and medical care (9.6 percent).

The Consumer Price Index for July 2017 is scheduled to be released on Friday, August 11, 2017.

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 6,000 housing units and approximately 24,000 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/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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.

Table 1. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U): Indexes for semiannual averages and percent changes for selected periods
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1987=100 unless otherwise noted)

Item and Group	Semiannual average indexes			Percent change to 1st half 2017 from—
	1st half 2016	2nd half 2016	1st half 2017	1st half 2016	2nd half 2016
Expenditure category
All Items	212.502	215.572	218.529	2.8	1.4
Food and beverages	220.124	218.520	218.801	-0.6	0.1
Food	220.247	218.701	219.101	-0.5	0.2
Food at home	224.327	221.633	223.026	-0.6	0.6
Food away from home	214.118	214.258	213.200	-0.4	-0.5
Alcoholic beverages	204.516	202.079	200.435	-2.0	-0.8
Housing	205.341	209.174	214.364	4.4	2.5
Shelter	230.983	236.797	243.314	5.3	2.8
Rent of primary residence(1)	231.791	240.583	246.918	6.5	2.6
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(1)	242.531	249.076	256.641	5.8	3.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(1)	242.531	249.076	256.641	5.8	3.0
Fuels and utilities	205.459	205.253	206.492	0.5	0.6
Household energy	163.804	163.559	164.606	0.5	0.6
Energy services(1)	161.716	161.356	162.241	0.3	0.5
Electricity(1)	158.485	158.557	159.491	0.6	0.6
Utility (piped) gas service(1)	253.075	238.949	238.235	-5.9	-0.3
Household furnishings and operations	113.654	112.303	114.823	1.0	2.2
Apparel	167.709	163.256	159.283	-5.0	-2.4
Transportation	183.226	185.371	191.520	4.5	3.3
Private transportation	186.345	189.100	195.553	4.9	3.4
Motor fuel	220.075	232.185	248.708	13.0	7.1
Gasoline (all types)	216.235	227.879	244.509	13.1	7.3
Unleaded regular(2)	209.456	220.766	237.067	13.2	7.4
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	197.627	212.346	226.082	14.4	6.5
Unleaded premium(2)	233.336	250.500	267.339	14.6	6.7
Medical Care	373.163	-	409.086	9.6	-
Recreation(4)	124.807	122.998	122.932	-1.5	-0.1
Education and communication(4)	142.030	142.254	139.357	-1.9	-2.0
Other goods and services	293.524	294.320	292.864	-0.2	-0.5
Commodity and service group
All Items	212.502	215.572	218.529	2.8	1.4
Commodities	171.519	170.376	170.770	-0.4	0.2
Commodities less food & beverages	145.893	144.989	145.434	-0.3	0.3
Nondurables less food & beverages	209.373	209.102	208.092	-0.6	-0.5
Durables	91.874	90.686	91.958	0.1	1.4
Services	248.841	255.699	260.959	4.9	2.1
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	203.891	205.431	208.481	2.3	1.5
All items less shelter	205.409	207.261	208.632	1.6	0.7
Commodities less food	149.068	148.111	148.501	-0.4	0.3
Nondurables	214.382	213.386	213.083	-0.6	-0.1
Nondurables less food	209.126	208.712	207.659	-0.7	-0.5
Services less rent of shelter	267.538	275.580	278.978	4.3	1.2
Services less medical care services	237.400	241.521	246.129	3.7	1.9
Energy	185.072	189.853	197.181	6.5	3.9
All items less energy	214.506	217.436	220.041	2.6	1.2
All items less food and energy	213.692	217.478	220.506	3.2	1.4
Footnotes (1) This index series was calculated using a Laspeyres estimator. All other item stratum index series were calculated using a geometric means estimator. (2) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample. (3) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base. (4) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
NOTE: Data not seasonally adjusted.