The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach rose 0.2 percent from June to August, 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 0.7 percent over the bi-monthly period. The energy index also increased from June to August, up 1.5 percent. In contrast, the food index fell 4.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. (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 4.2 percent for the 12 months ending in August. The index for all items less food and energy rose 3.6 percent over the past 12 months, while the energy index advanced 24.1 percent. The food index declined 2.1 percent over the past year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index fell 4.2 percent from June to August, led by a 6.8-percent decline in the food at home index. The food away from home index also declined over the bi-monthly period, down 0.5 percent.

The food index decreased 2.1 percent for the 12 months ending in August, reflecting a 6.5-percent decrease in the food at home index. In contrast, the food away home index increased 4.4 percent over the past year.   

Energy

The energy index rose 1.5 percent from June to August, reflecting a 2.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index rose slightly over the bi-monthly period, up 0.1 percent, while the utility (piped) gas service index increased 1.1 percent.

The energy index increased 24.1 percent for the 12 months ending in August, led by a 41.0-percent spike in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes also increased over the past year, up 6.0 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.7 percent from June to August. Several indexes increased over the bi-monthly period, including household furnishings and operations (5.0 percent), apparel (5.0 percent), medical care (1.3 percent), and shelter (0.2 percent). In contrast, the recreation and the used cars and trucks indexes declined from June to August, down 3.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 3.6 percent for the 12 months ending in August, led by a 2.9-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 13.6 percent over the past year, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (30.9 percent) and the new vehicles (12.4 percent) indexes. The recreation index declined 2.5 percent over the past 12 months.  

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	1.6	5.1
August	0.3	2.3	-0.3	3.6	0.4	1.9	1.0	1.4	0.2	4.2
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 September 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 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-
	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021	Aug. 2021	Aug. 2020	Jun. 2021	Jul. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	284.797	-	285.472	4.2	0.2	-
All items (November 1977=100)	459.053	-	460.141	-	-	-
Food and beverages	289.526	-	277.729	-2.7	-4.1	-
Food	295.025	-	282.658	-2.1	-4.2	-
Food at home	285.426	288.650	266.110	-6.5	-6.8	-7.8
Cereals and bakery products	323.504	-	322.048	-1.6	-0.5	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	289.493	-	279.944	-1.7	-3.3	-
Dairy and related products	247.145	-	236.505	-2.2	-4.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	-	-	289.342	-22.1	-	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	276.951	-	264.410	-0.3	-4.5	-
Other food at home	-	-	213.024	-6.9	-	-
Food away from home	313.461	-	311.755	4.4	-0.5	-
Alcoholic beverages	224.148	-	218.813	-10.7	-2.4	-
Housing	297.906	-	299.782	3.5	0.6	-
Shelter	343.169	342.961	343.995	2.9	0.2	0.3
Rent of primary residence	332.098	332.972	334.492	2.1	0.7	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	346.855	346.989	348.331	2.7	0.4	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	346.855	346.989	348.331	2.7	0.4	0.4
Fuels and utilities	185.798	-	186.005	4.9	0.1	-
Household energy	157.126	157.164	157.333	6.1	0.1	0.1
Energy services	154.300	154.317	154.502	6.0	0.1	0.1
Electricity	151.114	151.114	151.279	6.0	0.1	0.1
Utility (piped) gas service	191.498	192.471	193.636	5.9	1.1	0.6
Household furnishings and operations	174.478	-	183.284	7.7	5.0	-
Apparel	138.453	-	145.321	4.7	5.0	-
Transportation	247.027	-	251.418	18.6	1.8	-
Private transportation	255.664	-	261.877	19.7	2.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	-	-	135.797	13.6	-	-
New vehicles(1)	-	-	261.478	12.4	-	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	421.239	-	417.072	30.9	-1.0	-
Motor fuel	264.095	269.319	270.750	40.9	2.5	0.5
Gasoline (all types)	261.169	266.308	267.759	41.0	2.5	0.5
Unleaded regular(4)	257.522	262.773	264.181	42.1	2.6	0.5
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	257.425	261.741	263.217	35.0	2.2	0.6
Unleaded premium(4)	279.644	283.740	285.483	33.1	2.1	0.6
Motor vehicle insurance(1)	922.354	-	953.367	18.2	3.4	-
Medical Care	579.432	-	587.054	0.2	1.3	-
Recreation(3)	125.711	-	121.756	-2.5	-3.1	-
Education and communication(3)	124.974	-	125.199	1.9	0.2	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,043.122	-	1,052.778	2.9	0.9	-
Other goods and services	368.054	-	369.561	2.6	0.4	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	284.797	-	285.472	4.2	0.2	-
Commodities	221.063	-	222.184	7.2	0.5	-
Commodities less food & beverages	180.666	-	186.562	13.7	3.3	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	210.502	-	215.290	12.7	2.3	-
Durables	147.129	-	153.729	15.0	4.5	-
Services	333.996	-	334.385	3.0	0.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	272.309	-	272.696	4.6	0.1	-
All items less shelter	254.039	-	254.634	5.2	0.2	-
Commodities less food	182.615	-	188.188	12.6	3.1	-
Nondurables	251.680	-	249.081	4.3	-1.0	-
Nondurables less food	211.404	-	215.567	10.9	2.0	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	329.227	-	328.987	3.0	-0.1	-
Services less medical care services	315.174	-	314.965	3.2	-0.1	-
Energy	205.271	207.653	208.393	24.1	1.5	0.4
All items less energy	293.733	-	294.129	2.9	0.1	-
All items less food and energy	294.047	-	296.131	3.6	0.7	-
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.