The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach rose 1.6 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the index for all items less food and energy rose 1.1 percent over the bi-monthly period. The energy index increased 8.0 percent from February to April, while the food index rose 1.5 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 advanced 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in April. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.8 percent over the past 12 months, while the energy index advanced 24.7 percent. The food index index also increased over the past year, up 2.9 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.5 percent from February to April, reflecting increases in the food away from home (2.3 percent) and the food at home (0.9 percent) indexes.

The food index increased 2.9 percent for the 12 months ending in April, led by a 3.9-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also advanced over the last 12 months, up 1.6 percent.  

Energy

The energy index rose 8.0 percent from February to April, reflecting a 14.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index rose 2.2 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the electricity index was unchanged.

The energy index jumped 24.7 percent for the 12 months ending in April, led by a 47.2-percent sharp increase in the gasoline index. Over the past year, the electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes inceased, up 2.7 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.1 percent from February to April. Several indexes noted increases, including used cars and trucks (12.9 percent), shelter (0.6 percent), and household furnishings and operations (3.7 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.8 percent for the 12 months ending in April, reflecting a 2.8-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 6.1 percent over the past year—reflecting a 20.0 percent spike in the used cars and trucks index.

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	1.6	4.1
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 May 2021 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, June 10, 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-
	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021	Apr. 2021	Apr. 2020	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	275.849	-	280.390	4.1	1.6	-
All items (November 1977=100)	444.631	-	451.950	-	-	-
Food and beverages	280.457	-	284.357	1.7	1.4	-
Food	285.186	-	289.397	2.9	1.5	-
Food at home	279.336	280.382	281.902	3.9	0.9	0.5
Cereals and bakery products	331.444	-	327.021	5.5	-1.3	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	269.586	-	271.736	6.2	0.8	-
Dairy and related products	252.135	-	252.603	2.7	0.2	-
Fruits and vegetables	359.220	-	358.225	1.1	-0.3	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	254.163	-	274.050	6.3	7.8	-
Other food at home	229.792	-	-	-	-	-
Food away from home	297.674	-	304.495	1.6	2.3	-
Alcoholic beverages	223.687	-	224.107	-	0.2	-
Housing	292.645	-	294.903	2.7	0.8	-
Shelter	338.309	340.035	340.192	2.8	0.6	0.0
Rent of primary residence	329.676	330.577	331.070	1.9	0.4	0.1
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	343.750	344.796	344.682	3.0	0.3	0.0
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	343.750	344.796	344.682	3.0	0.3	0.0
Fuels and utilities	181.686	-	181.761	2.8	0.0	-
Household energy	151.965	151.951	152.037	2.9	0.0	0.1
Energy services	149.253	149.269	149.326	2.7	0.0	0.0
Electricity	146.105	146.105	146.105	2.7	0.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	189.006	189.934	193.244	5.0	2.2	1.7
Household furnishings and operations	166.037	-	172.261	0.8	3.7	-
Apparel	139.813	-	138.328	7.4	-1.1	-
Transportation	217.780	-	232.679	15.3	6.8	-
Private transportation	228.530	-	243.047	17.1	6.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	116.490	-	121.382	6.1	4.2	-
New vehicles(1)	231.892	-	232.185	-0.6	0.1	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	316.202	-	357.109	20.0	12.9	-
Motor fuel	225.525	252.104	258.284	46.8	14.5	2.5
Gasoline (all types)	223.037	249.353	255.415	47.2	14.5	2.4
Unleaded regular(4)	219.520	245.705	251.606	48.9	14.6	2.4
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	223.629	249.316	253.505	36.6	13.4	1.7
Unleaded premium(4)	241.687	267.698	275.298	35.8	13.9	2.8
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	907.668	-	922.354	24.7	1.6	-
Medical Care	586.668	-	585.347	0.9	-0.2	-
Recreation(3)	125.055	-	127.168	4.6	1.7	-
Education and communication(3)	123.060	-	124.592	1.1	1.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,021.799	-	1,021.799	0.6	0.0	-
Other goods and services	360.831	-	363.495	1.1	0.7	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	275.849	-	280.390	4.1	1.6	-
Commodities	207.089	-	215.530	7.0	4.1	-
Commodities less food & beverages	165.781	-	175.365	10.6	5.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	200.118	-	210.749	15.2	5.3	-
Durables	128.985	-	137.254	4.9	6.4	-
Services	328.245	-	330.253	2.9	0.6	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	262.704	-	267.482	4.5	1.8	-
All items less shelter	242.915	-	248.870	5.1	2.5	-
Commodities less food	168.118	-	177.456	9.4	5.6	-
Nondurables	241.625	-	249.481	7.8	3.3	-
Nondurables less food	201.633	-	211.634	12.8	5.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	322.063	-	324.318	3.0	0.7	-
Services less medical care services	308.692	-	310.884	3.1	0.7	-
Energy	185.016	197.023	199.863	24.7	8.0	1.4
All items less energy	286.074	-	289.442	2.8	1.2	-
All items less food and energy	286.664	-	289.925	2.8	1.1	-
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.