The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater inched up 0.1 percent from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index and the food index were up 0.3 percent each. Since May, the energy index declined 2.3 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect impact of seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the all items CPI-U increased 2.1 percent. Since July 2018, the all items less food and energy index advanced 2.5 percent and the food index rose 2.3 percent. The energy index was down 1.7 percent over the year. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index edged up 0.3 percent from May to July, reflecting increases in the food at home (0.5 percent) and the food away from home (0.2 percent) indexes.

Since July 2018, the food index rose 2.3 percent, led by a 4.2-percent advance in the food away from home index. Over the year, the food at home index increased 0.9 percent.

Energy

The energy index declined 2.3 percent from May to July, fueled by a 4.1-percent decrease in the gasoline index. The electricity index was also down over the two months (-0.3 percent), while the utility (piped) gas service index was up 2.9 percent.

The energy index was down 1.7 percent for the 12 months ending July, reflecting a 2.9-percent decrease in the gasoline index. Over the year, the electricity index declined 0.4 percent, while the utility (piped) gas service index rose 2.0 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged up 0.3 percent from May to July. Several indexes recorded increases, most notably shelter (0.7 percent), household furnishing and operations (3.2 percent), and medical care (0.8 percent). In contrast, the apparel index and the new vehicles index declined, down 3.1 and 0.8 percent, respectively.

From July 2018 to July 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.5 percent, reflecting a 5.3-percent increase in the shelter index.

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

Month	2018		2019
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	0.8		-1.1	0.4
March	0.6		1.9	1.7
May	0.4		0.9	2.2
July	0.3		0.1	2.1
September	0.6
November	-0.3	2.3

The Consumer Price Index for August 2019 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, September 12, 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) (not seasonally adjusted)

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	May 2019	Jun. 2019	Jul. 2019	Jul. 2018	May 2019	Jun. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	229.018	-	229.334	2.1	0.1	-
Food and beverages	231.609	-	232.648	2.4	0.4	-
Food	232.281	-	233.082	2.3	0.3	-
Food at home	232.690	232.132	233.792	0.9	0.5	0.7
Cereals and bakery products	271.354	-	267.806	2.2	-1.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	215.890	-	225.375	1.3	4.4	-
Dairy and related products	213.875	-	212.309	-10.9	-0.7	-
Fruits and vegetables	330.943	-	329.918	6.8	-0.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	173.897	-	170.983	4.5	-1.7	-
Other food at home	188.818	-	189.263	-2.0	0.2	-
Food away from home	230.626	-	231.033	4.2	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	207.318	-	211.467	4.2	2.0	-
Housing	232.231	-	234.144	5.0	0.8	-
Shelter	266.933	267.808	268.720	5.3	0.7	0.3
Rent of primary residence	271.332	271.559	271.615	5.1	0.1	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	280.555	281.288	282.538	4.8	0.7	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	280.555	281.288	282.538	4.8	0.7	0.4
Fuels and utilities	212.015	-	212.027	0.7	0.0	-
Household energy	167.339	166.576	167.017	-0.4	-0.2	0.3
Energy Services	164.930	164.471	164.471	-0.4	-0.3	0.0
Electricity	162.081	161.585	161.585	-0.4	-0.3	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	233.814	240.657	240.657	2.0	2.9	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	118.702	-	122.559	8.3	3.2	-
Apparel	142.677	-	138.191	-3.7	-3.1	-
Transportation	206.608	-	203.388	-0.8	-1.6	-
Private transportation	211.451	-	209.298	-0.8	-1.0	-
New and used motor vehicles(1)	108.612	-	108.724	-0.4	0.1	-
New vehicles	124.368	-	123.320	-0.2	-0.8	-
Used cars and trucks	132.184	-	136.539	1.6	3.3	-
Motor fuel	296.241	279.235	284.155	-2.9	-4.1	1.8
Gasoline (all types)	290.054	273.320	278.208	-2.9	-4.1	1.8
Unleaded regular(2)	283.194	266.009	271.743	-2.5	-4.0	2.2
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	254.462	244.652	242.490	-4.7	-4.7	-0.9
Unleaded premium(2)	301.572	291.037	288.625	-5.3	-4.3	-0.8
Motor vehicle insurance	572.561	-	572.561	0.4	0.0	-
Medical Care	392.300	-	395.567	1.9	0.8	-
Recreation(1)	122.553	-	121.799	0.1	-0.6	-
Education and communication(1)	132.268	-	132.762	-5.3	0.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	619.130	-	628.024	0.5	1.4	-
Other goods and services	298.359	-	302.303	2.4	1.3	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	229.018	-	229.334	2.1	0.1	-
Commodities	176.497	-	175.275	0.6	-0.7	-
Commodities less food & beverages	147.780	-	145.752	-0.5	-1.4	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	214.695	-	210.482	-1.1	-2.0	-
Durables	91.899	-	91.234	0.2	-0.7	-
Services	275.681	-	277.352	3.0	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	220.217	-	220.380	2.1	0.1	-
All items less shelter	213.407	-	213.096	0.5	-0.1	-
Commodities less food	151.004	-	149.116	-0.3	-1.3	-
Nondurables	223.087	-	221.573	0.7	-0.7	-
Nondurables less food	214.270	-	210.632	-0.8	-1.7	-
Services less rent of shelter	282.069	-	283.563	0.4	0.5	-
Services less medical care services	262.994	-	264.667	3.0	0.6	-
Energy	218.061	210.719	212.972	-1.7	-2.3	1.1
All items less energy	229.622	-	230.409	2.4	0.3	-
All items less food and energy	229.427	-	230.213	2.5	0.3	-
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.