Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

News Release Information

21-426-ATL
Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Consumer Price Index, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach – February 2021

Area prices up 1.4 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach rose 0.8 percent from December to February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the energy index contributed to the increase, up 9.1 percent over the bi-monthly period. The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent from December to February, while the food index rose 0.6 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U rose 1.4 percent for the 12 months ending in February. The food index advanced 6.5 percent over the past year, while the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent. The energy index increased 2.7 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.6 percent from December to February, reflecting a 1.2-percent increase in the food at home index. In contrast, the food away from index declined 0.4 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The food index advanced 6.5 percent for the 12 months ending in February, led by a 11.0-percent jump in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the past 12 months, up 0.5 percent.  

Energy

The energy index advanced 9.1 percent from December to February, reflecting a 15.1-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index and the utility (piped) gas service index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 2.4 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

The energy index increased 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting increases in the gasoline (2.9 percent), electricity (2.7 percent), and utility (piped) gas service (2.7 percent) indexes.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy inched up 0.1 percent from December to February, led by a 2.2 percent increase in the medical care index. In contrast, the new and used motor vehicles index declined 2.1 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting a 2.0-percent increase in the shelter index. The medical care index rose 2.4 percent over the past year.  

Table A. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, CPI-U 2-month and 12-month percent changes, all items index, not seasonally adjusted
Month20172018201920202021
2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month2-month12-month

February

1.34.02.63.21.01.20.41.40.81.4

April

-0.52.8-0.13.50.82.2-1.0-0.5

June

-0.22.00.54.2-0.51.20.70.7

August

0.32.3-0.33.60.41.91.01.4

October

1.02.70.83.40.41.50.11.0

December

-0.11.8-0.62.9-0.22.0-0.21.1

The Consumer Price Index for March 2021 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on February 2021 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in February was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-price-index.htm.


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 6,000 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; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000.  Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods 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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, Core Based Statistical Area covered in this release is comprised of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach 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 and percent changes for selected periods
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL (1982-84=100 unless otherwise noted)
Item and Group

IndexesPercent change from-
Dec.
2020
Jan.
2021
Feb.
2021
Feb.
2020
Dec.
2020
Jan.
2021

Expenditure category

All Items

273.774-275.8491.40.8-

All items (November 1977=100)

441.286-444.631---

Food and beverages

278.747-280.4575.20.6-

Food

283.593-285.1866.50.6-

Food at home

275.888279.216279.33611.01.20.0

Cereals and bakery products

315.277-331.44416.65.1-

Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs

271.144-269.58614.7-0.6-

Dairy and related products

242.950-252.13511.73.8-

Fruits and vegetables

346.464-359.2207.33.7-

Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)

272.843-254.1636.5-6.8-

Other food at home

224.118-229.7928.92.5-

Food away from home

298.949-297.6740.5-0.4-

Alcoholic beverages

220.721-223.687-10.21.3-

Housing

292.490-292.6451.80.1-

Shelter

338.167338.594338.3092.00.0-0.1

Rent of primary residence

330.959331.089329.6762.0-0.4-0.4

Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)

343.591343.993343.7503.30.0-0.1

Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)

343.591343.993343.7503.30.0-0.1

Fuels and utilities

177.904-181.6862.62.1-

Household energy

148.240151.913151.9652.72.50.0

Energy services

145.757149.242149.2532.72.40.0

Electricity

142.735146.105146.1052.72.40.0

Utility (piped) gas service

181.593188.392189.0062.74.10.3

Household furnishings and operations

169.185-166.037-0.8-1.9-

Apparel

137.118-139.813-3.42.0-

Transportation

212.163-217.780-2.12.6-

Private transportation

221.883-228.5301.23.0-

New and used motor vehicles(3)

119.004-116.4901.1-2.1-

New vehicles(1)

231.660-231.892-0.80.1-

Used cars and trucks(1)

319.163-316.2028.1-0.9-

Motor fuel

196.014209.428225.5252.815.17.7

Gasoline (all types)

193.704207.001223.0372.915.17.7

Unleaded regular(4)

189.788203.203219.5203.215.78.0

Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)

198.597205.901223.6291.312.68.6

Unleaded premium(4)

217.191229.787241.6870.711.35.2

Motor vehicle insurance(1)

883.119-907.6681.52.8-

Medical Care

573.943-586.6682.42.2-

Recreation(3)

123.309-125.0552.81.4-

Education and communication(3)

122.641-123.060-0.50.3-

Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)

1,021.799-1,021.7990.60.0-

Other goods and services

363.068-360.8310.3-0.6-

Commodity and service group

All Items

273.774-275.8491.40.8-

Commodities

203.480-207.0891.41.8-

Commodities less food & beverages

161.700-165.781-0.92.5-

Nondurables less food & beverages

188.609-200.118-0.66.1-

Durables

131.505-128.985-1.3-1.9-

Services

327.159-328.2451.40.3-

Special aggregate indexes

All items less medical care

261.071-262.7041.30.6-

All items less shelter

239.812-242.9150.91.3-

Commodities less food

164.057-168.118-1.32.5-

Nondurables

234.259-241.6252.43.1-

Nondurables less food

190.650-201.633-1.35.8-

Services less rent of shelter(2)

319.594-322.0630.40.8-

Services less medical care services

308.346-308.6921.10.1-

Energy

169.640177.712185.0162.79.14.1

All items less energy

285.512-286.0741.30.2-

All items less food and energy

286.237-286.6640.70.1-

Footnotes
(1) Index is on a November 1977=100 base.
(2) Index is on a November 1982=100 base.
(3) Indexes on a December 1997=100 base.
(4) Special index based on a substantially smaller sample.
(5) Indexes on a December 1993=100 base.

- Data not available.
NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2021