The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach rose 3.3 percent from December to February, 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 2.4 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the energy index advanced 15.8 percent. The food index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 1.1 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 9.8 percent for the 12 months ending in February. The index for all items less food and energy rose 8.3 percent over the past 12 months, while the energy index advanced 37.3 percent. The food index increased 3.6 percent over the past year. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 1.1 percent from December to February, led by a 1.4-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 0.5 percent.

The food index increased 3.6 percent for the 12 months ending in February, reflecting an 8.9-percent increase in the food away from home index. In contrast, the food at home index edged down 0.2 percent over the past year.   

Energy

The energy index jumped 15.8 percent from December to February, led by a 33.2-percent increase in the electricity index. The gasoline index rose 5.4 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the utility (piped) gas service index rose 7.9 percent. 

The energy index advanced 37.3 percent for the 12 months ending in February, as the gasoline index and the electricity index each rose 37.8 percent over the past year. The utility (piped) gas service index also increased over the last 12 months, up 13.5 percent.   

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.4 percent from December to February, largely due to a 2.0-percent increase in the shelter index.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 8.3 percent for the 12 months ending in February, led by a 6.9-percent increase in the shelter index. The new and used motor vehicles index rose 22.6 percent over the past year, reflecting increases in the used cars and trucks (+41.4 percent) and the new vehicles (+16.6 percent) indexes.

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	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	2.6	3.2	1.0	1.2	0.4	1.4	0.8	1.4	3.3	9.8
April	-0.1	3.5	0.8	2.2	-1.0	-0.5	1.6	4.1
June	0.5	4.2	-0.5	1.2	0.7	0.7	1.6	5.1
August	-0.3	3.6	0.4	1.9	1.0	1.4	0.2	4.2
October	0.8	3.4	0.4	1.5	0.1	1.0	1.5	5.7
December	-0.6	2.9	-0.2	2.0	-0.2	1.1	1.2	7.1

The Consumer Price Index for March 2022 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, 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. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022	Feb. 2021	Dec. 2021	Jan. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	293.284	-	302.920	9.8	3.3	-
All items (November 1977=100)	472.733	-	488.265	-	-	-
Food and beverages	285.940	-	289.604	3.3	1.3	-
Food	292.345	-	295.543	3.6	1.1	-
Food at home	275.096	275.784	278.905	-0.2	1.4	1.1
Cereals and bakery products	329.662	-	342.416	3.3	3.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	280.399	-	283.866	5.3	1.2	-
Dairy and related products	239.863	-	239.107	-5.2	-0.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	319.067	-	313.530	-12.7	-1.7	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials(1)	261.373	-	276.340	8.7	5.7	-
Other food at home	227.574	-	230.022	0.1	1.1	-
Food away from home	322.647	-	324.200	8.9	0.5	-
Alcoholic beverages	-	-	221.513	-1.0	-	-
Housing	308.144	-	319.879	9.3	3.8	-
Shelter	354.776	358.736	361.799	6.9	2.0	0.9
Rent of primary residence	343.250	347.541	352.890	7.0	2.8	1.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences(2)	357.607	361.374	363.537	5.8	1.7	0.6
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence(2)	357.607	361.374	363.537	5.8	1.7	0.6
Fuels and utilities	186.737	-	231.516	27.4	24.0	-
Household energy	157.527	210.781	208.606	37.3	32.4	-1.0
Energy services	154.515	207.681	205.111	37.4	32.7	-1.2
Electricity	151.203	203.991	201.386	37.8	33.2	-1.3
Utility (piped) gas service	198.757	211.086	214.434	13.5	7.9	1.6
Household furnishings and operations	186.487	-	190.426	14.7	2.1	-
Apparel	137.959	-	156.257	11.8	13.3	-
Transportation	261.421	-	271.020	24.4	3.7	-
Private transportation	274.432	-	283.754	24.2	3.4	-
New and used motor vehicles(3)	141.151	-	142.869	22.6	1.2	-
New vehicles(1)	269.991	-	270.492	16.6	0.2	-
Used cars and trucks(1)	437.894	-	447.191	41.4	2.1	-
Motor fuel	294.780	292.519	310.676	37.8	5.4	6.2
Gasoline (all types)	291.628	289.399	307.353	37.8	5.4	6.2
Unleaded regular(4)	288.084	285.769	304.326	38.6	5.6	6.5
Unleaded midgrade(4)(5)	285.604	284.172	297.771	33.2	4.3	4.8
Unleaded premium(4)	308.176	306.756	318.810	31.9	3.5	3.9
Medical Care	591.075	-	594.555	1.3	0.6	-
Recreation(3)	126.723	-	131.239	4.9	3.6	-
Education and communication(3)	124.753	-	126.497	2.8	1.4	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care(1)	1,052.767	-	1,052.767	3.0	0.0	-
Other goods and services	410.945	-	420.099	16.4	2.2	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	293.284	-	302.920	9.8	3.3	-
Commodities	229.531	-	236.268	14.1	2.9	-
Commodities less food & beverages	193.095	-	200.512	20.9	3.8	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	222.930	-	235.778	17.8	5.8	-
Durables	159.025	-	161.908	25.5	1.8	-
Services	342.681	-	354.518	8.0	3.5	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	280.655	-	290.495	10.6	3.5	-
All items less shelter	260.877	-	271.808	11.9	4.2	-
Commodities less food	194.296	-	201.822	20.0	3.9	-
Nondurables	257.176	-	266.049	10.1	3.5	-
Nondurables less food	222.232	-	234.975	16.5	5.7	-
Services less rent of shelter(2)	333.871	-	352.788	9.5	5.7	-
Services less medical care services	323.404	-	335.513	8.7	3.7	-
Energy	219.360	246.820	253.975	37.3	15.8	2.9
All items less energy	301.579	-	308.365	7.8	2.3	-
All items less food and energy	303.298	-	310.595	8.3	2.4	-
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.