The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater advanced 1.9 percent over the February-March pricing period, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index increased 1.5 percent since January 2019. During this same period, the energy index was up 8.5 percent and the food index was up 0.5 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the all items CPI-U increased 1.7 percent. The all items less food and energy index moved up 1.9 percent and the food index rose 1.5 percent over the year. The energy index declined 0.7 percent since March 2018. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 0.5 percent over the February-March pricing period. The food away from home index increased 0.6 percent since January 2019, while the food at home index increased 0.4 percent.

Since March 2018, the food index rose 1.5 percent, led by a 3.5-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index was unchanged over the year.

Energy

The energy index increased 8.5 percent over the February-March pricing period, reflecting an increase in the gasoline index, up 17.5 percent. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes declined over the two months, down 0.2 and 0.9 percent, respectively.

Since March 2018, the energy index declined 0.7 percent, led by a 2.0-percent drop in the electricity index and a 4.5-percent decline in the utility (piped) gas service index. The gasoline index increased 0.4 percent over the 12 months.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.5 percent over the February-March pricing period. Several indexes recorded increases including new vehicles (12.2 percent) and shelter (0.8 percent).

For the twelve months ended March 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 1.9 percent as several indexes recorded increases, most notably shelter (4.6 percent). In contrast, the education and communication (-7.7 percent) and apparel (-6.3 percent) indexes were down over the year.

The Consumer Price Index for April 2019 is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 10, 2019.

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 93 percent of the total population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 29 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 75 urban areas across the country from about 5,000 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 (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, 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)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Jan. 2019	Feb. 2019	Mar. 2019	Mar. 2018	Jan. 2019	Feb. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	222.774	-	226.927	1.7	1.9	-
Food and beverages	227.772	-	228.877	1.6	0.5	-
Food	228.220	-	229.339	1.5	0.5	-
Food at home	228.956	229.809	229.845	0.0	0.4	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	257.270	-	263.089	2.7	2.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	215.383	-	217.854	3.7	1.1	-
Dairy and related products	208.382	-	210.529	-10.9	1.0	-
Fruits and vegetables	319.154	-	315.927	1.2	-1.0	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	171.338	-	168.215	-1.9	-1.8	-
Other food at home	190.652	-	192.207	0.0	0.8	-
Food away from home	226.164	-	227.574	3.5	0.6	-
Alcoholic beverages	206.718	-	207.563	3.0	0.4	-
Housing	228.252	-	229.713	4.0	0.6	-
Shelter	261.517	263.140	263.683	4.6	0.8	0.2
Rent of primary residence	265.506	266.984	268.223	5.1	1.0	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	275.685	277.308	277.689	4.7	0.7	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	275.685	277.308	277.689	4.7	0.7	0.1
Fuels and utilities	208.575	-	209.167	-0.2	0.3	-
Household energy	164.568	164.578	164.298	-2.0	-0.2	-0.2
Energy Services	162.203	162.194	161.924	-2.0	-0.2	-0.2
Electricity	159.367	159.369	159.102	-2.0	-0.2	-0.2
Utility (piped) gas service	235.891	233.814	233.814	-4.5	-0.9	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	119.984	-	119.252	3.7	-0.6	-
Apparel	145.767	-	150.417	-6.3	3.2	-
Transportation	187.781	-	202.923	1.9	8.1	-
Private transportation	192.929	-	208.776	2.1	8.2	-
New and used motor vehicles(1)	101.072	-	111.339	3.4	10.2	-
New vehicles	113.387	-	127.275	4.7	12.2	-
Used cars and trucks	133.557	-	134.649	1.4	0.8	-
Motor fuel	230.636	248.508	270.772	0.5	17.4	9.0
Gasoline (all types)	225.350	242.973	264.897	0.4	17.5	9.0
Unleaded regular(2)	216.333	235.213	257.482	0.7	19.0	9.5
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	221.379	224.460	238.622	-3.2	7.8	6.3
Unleaded premium(2)	265.552	269.460	284.904	-1.3	7.3	5.7
Motor vehicle insurance	568.494	-	556.605	1.5	-2.1	-
Medical Care	389.979	-	392.155	0.8	0.6	-
Recreation(1)	122.399	-	124.021	0.9	1.3	-
Education and communication(1)	130.508	-	128.703	-7.7	-1.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	619.130	-	622.848	1.6	0.6	-
Other goods and services	302.084	-	299.834	0.3	-0.7	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	222.774	-	226.927	1.7	1.9	-
Commodities	168.524	-	175.859	1.3	4.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages	138.584	-	147.966	1.1	6.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	199.089	-	210.809	-0.9	5.9	-
Durables	87.237	-	93.971	3.4	7.7	-
Services	270.952	-	272.305	1.9	0.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	213.780	-	218.029	1.8	2.0	-
All items less shelter	206.794	-	211.806	0.2	2.4	-
Commodities less food	141.930	-	151.194	1.2	6.5	-
Nondurables	213.537	-	219.798	0.4	2.9	-
Nondurables less food	199.692	-	210.667	-0.7	5.5	-
Services less rent of shelter	278.328	-	278.628	-1.0	0.1	-
Services less medical care services	258.162	-	259.416	1.9	0.5	-
Energy	189.838	197.091	205.954	-0.7	8.5	4.5
All items less energy	225.306	-	228.408	1.9	1.4	-
All items less food and energy	225.067	-	228.482	1.9	1.5	-
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.