The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 1.6 percent from January to March, 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 increased 1.2 percent over bi-monthly period, while the energy index jumped 9.3 percent. The food index rose 0.5 percent from January to March. (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 4.9 percent from March 2020 to March 2021. The index for all items less food and energy increased 4.3 percent over the past 12 months. The food index and the energy index also increased over the year, up 6.3 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. (See table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 0.5 percent from January to March. The food away from home index and the food at home index each increased over the bi-monthly period, up 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The food index advanced 6.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March, led by a 10.0-percent jump in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the year, up 2.1 percent.

Energy

The energy index jumped 9.3 percent from January to March, led by a 20.5-percent sharp increase in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 5.7 percent, while the electricity index declined 0.7 percent.    

The energy index increased 9.2 percent for the 12 months ending in March, reflecting a 20.7-percent increase in the gasoline index. In contrast, the electricity index declined 0.6 percent over the past 12 months, while the utility (piped) gas service index fell 8.7 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.2 percent from January to March, led by increases in the shelter (1.4 percent) and the new and used motor vehicles (3.1 percent) indexes.   

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.3 percent for the 12 months ending in March. Increases in the shelter (4.7 percent) and medical care (7.8 percent) indexes contributed to the over-the-year increase.

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

Month	2019		2020		2021
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
January	-1.1	0.4	0.7	3.8	0.9	3.4
March	1.9	1.7	0.2	2.1	1.6	4.9
May	0.9	2.2	-0.3	0.9
July	0.1	2.1	1.0	1.8
September	-0.1	1.5	1.4	3.3
November	0.2	2.0	0.1	3.2

The Consumer Price Index for April 2021 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures 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 U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. 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 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-
	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021	Mar. 2021	Mar. 2020	Jan. 2021	Feb. 2021
Expenditure category
All Items	239.135	-	242.910	4.9	1.6	-
Food and beverages	249.207	-	251.282	6.3	0.8	-
Food	250.248	-	251.551	6.3	0.5	-
Food at home	257.384	260.329	258.276	10.0	0.3	-0.8
Cereals and bakery products	273.911	-	276.360	12.8	0.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	245.686	-	249.616	13.7	1.6	-
Dairy and related products	251.154	-	253.206	13.1	0.8	-
Fruits and vegetables	363.063	-	365.757	11.2	0.7	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	203.564	-	195.870	7.6	-3.8	-
Other food at home	202.863	-	203.639	4.0	0.4	-
Food away from home	240.620	-	242.404	2.1	0.7	-
Alcoholic beverages	221.216	-	231.611	6.3	4.7	-
Housing	246.876	-	249.333	4.6	1.0	-
Shelter	283.190	285.551	287.198	4.7	1.4	0.6
Rent of primary residence	288.780	290.733	291.830	4.3	1.1	0.4
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	297.982	300.759	302.408	4.7	1.5	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	297.982	300.759	302.408	4.7	1.5	0.5
Fuels and utilities	214.689	-	213.831	0.4	-0.4	-
Household energy	165.974	164.837	165.060	-0.9	-0.6	0.1
Energy Services	163.765	162.633	162.855	-0.9	-0.6	0.1
Electricity	161.577	160.429	160.398	-0.6	-0.7	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	208.017	208.017	219.822	-8.7	5.7	5.7
Household furnishings and operations	135.650	-	133.955	8.6	-1.2	-
Apparel	124.764	-	126.767	-2.6	1.6	-
Transportation	202.378	-	215.381	7.2	6.4	-
Private transportation	208.209	-	222.500	7.4	6.9	-
New and used motor vehicles(1)	111.326	-	114.810	4.2	3.1	-
New vehicles	124.798	-	129.510	2.5	3.8	-
Used cars and trucks	142.094	-	145.869	8.0	2.7	-
Motor fuel	248.336	271.286	298.562	20.6	20.2	10.1
Gasoline (all types)	242.517	265.045	292.315	20.7	20.5	10.3
Unleaded regular(2)	232.993	255.344	282.676	20.7	21.3	10.7
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	250.963	273.632	298.315	32.4	18.9	9.0
Unleaded premium(2)	283.708	303.940	326.760	20.4	15.2	7.5
Motor vehicle insurance	590.036	-	614.846	2.0	4.2	-
Medical Care	440.026	-	437.976	7.8	-0.5	-
Recreation(1)	123.122	-	123.923	-0.4	0.7	-
Education and communication(1)	133.809	-	135.279	3.7	1.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	644.253	-	644.253	2.2	0.0	-
Other goods and services	305.552	-	305.474	-1.4	0.0	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	239.135	-	242.910	4.9	1.6	-
Commodities	178.775	-	183.449	5.8	2.6	-
Commodities less food & beverages	143.639	-	149.338	5.3	4.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	197.081	-	209.849	5.3	6.5	-
Durables	94.803	-	96.224	5.4	1.5	-
Services	292.660	-	295.773	4.4	1.1	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	228.430	-	232.472	4.6	1.8	-
All items less shelter	220.769	-	224.480	5.0	1.7	-
Commodities less food	147.316	-	153.219	5.4	4.0	-
Nondurables	224.336	-	231.207	5.9	3.1	-
Nondurables less food	199.101	-	211.637	5.4	6.3	-
Services less rent of shelter	299.267	-	301.002	4.0	0.6	-
Services less medical care services	276.402	-	279.933	3.9	1.3	-
Energy	198.414	206.370	216.819	9.2	9.3	5.1
All items less energy	242.203	-	244.800	4.6	1.1	-
All items less food and energy	241.162	-	243.967	4.3	1.2	-
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.