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

Month	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	1.3	4.0	2.6	3.2	1.0	1.2	0.4	1.4	0.8	1.4
April	-0.5	2.8	-0.1	3.5	0.8	2.2	-1.0	-0.5
June	-0.2	2.0	0.5	4.2	-0.5	1.2	0.7	0.7
August	0.3	2.3	-0.3	3.6	0.4	1.9	1.0	1.4
October	1.0	2.7	0.8	3.4	0.4	1.5	0.1	1.0
December	-0.1	1.8	-0.6	2.9	-0.2	2.0	-0.2	1.1

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

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	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021	Feb. 2020	Dec. 2020	Jan. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	273.774	-	275.849	1.4	0.8	-
All items (November 1977=100)	441.286	-	444.631	-	-	-
Food and beverages	278.747	-	280.457	5.2	0.6	-
Food	283.593	-	285.186	6.5	0.6	-
Food at home	275.888	279.216	279.336	11.0	1.2	0.0
Cereals and bakery products	315.277	-	331.444	16.6	5.1	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	271.144	-	269.586	14.7	-0.6	-
Dairy and related products	242.950	-	252.135	11.7	3.8	-
Fruits and vegetables	346.464	-	359.220	7.3	3.7	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	272.843	-	254.163	6.5	-6.8	-
Other food at home	224.118	-	229.792	8.9	2.5	-
Food away from home	298.949	-	297.674	0.5	-0.4	-
Alcoholic beverages	220.721	-	223.687	-10.2	1.3	-
Housing	292.490	-	292.645	1.8	0.1	-
Shelter	338.167	338.594	338.309	2.0	0.0	-0.1
Rent of primary residence	330.959	331.089	329.676	2.0	-0.4	-0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	343.591	343.993	343.750	3.3	0.0	-0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	343.591	343.993	343.750	3.3	0.0	-0.1
Fuels and utilities	177.904	-	181.686	2.6	2.1	-
Household energy	148.240	151.913	151.965	2.7	2.5	0.0
Energy services	145.757	149.242	149.253	2.7	2.4	0.0
Electricity	142.735	146.105	146.105	2.7	2.4	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	181.593	188.392	189.006	2.7	4.1	0.3
Household furnishings and operations	169.185	-	166.037	-0.8	-1.9	-
Apparel	137.118	-	139.813	-3.4	2.0	-
Transportation	212.163	-	217.780	-2.1	2.6	-
Private transportation	221.883	-	228.530	1.2	3.0	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	119.004	-	116.490	1.1	-2.1	-
New vehicles(1)	231.660	-	231.892	-0.8	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	319.163	-	316.202	8.1	-0.9	-
Motor fuel	196.014	209.428	225.525	2.8	15.1	7.7
Gasoline (all types)	193.704	207.001	223.037	2.9	15.1	7.7
Unleaded regular(4)	189.788	203.203	219.520	3.2	15.7	8.0
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	198.597	205.901	223.629	1.3	12.6	8.6
Unleaded premium(4)	217.191	229.787	241.687	0.7	11.3	5.2
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	883.119	-	907.668	1.5	2.8	-
Medical Care	573.943	-	586.668	2.4	2.2	-
Recreation(3)	123.309	-	125.055	2.8	1.4	-
Education and communication(3)	122.641	-	123.060	-0.5	0.3	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,021.799	-	1,021.799	0.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	363.068	-	360.831	0.3	-0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	273.774	-	275.849	1.4	0.8	-
Commodities	203.480	-	207.089	1.4	1.8	-
Commodities less food & beverages	161.700	-	165.781	-0.9	2.5	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	188.609	-	200.118	-0.6	6.1	-
Durables	131.505	-	128.985	-1.3	-1.9	-
Services	327.159	-	328.245	1.4	0.3	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	261.071	-	262.704	1.3	0.6	-
All items less shelter	239.812	-	242.915	0.9	1.3	-
Commodities less food	164.057	-	168.118	-1.3	2.5	-
Nondurables	234.259	-	241.625	2.4	3.1	-
Nondurables less food	190.650	-	201.633	-1.3	5.8	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	319.594	-	322.063	0.4	0.8	-
Services less medical care services	308.346	-	308.692	1.1	0.1	-
Energy	169.640	177.712	185.016	2.7	9.1	4.1
All items less energy	285.512	-	286.074	1.3	0.2	-
All items less food and energy	286.237	-	286.664	0.7	0.1	-
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.