The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 2.1 percent from January to March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the energy index rose sharply over the bi-monthly period, up 14.6 percent. The all items less food and energy index increased 1.0 percent from January to March, while the food index rose 2.4 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 10.2 percent for the 12 months ending in March. The index for all items less food and energy increased 8.8 percent over the past year. The energy and the food indexes also increased over the last 12 months, up 31.1 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index rose 2.4 percent from January to March, led by a 3.7-percent increase in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 0.8 percent.

The food index advanced 8.2 percent for the 12 months ending in March, reflecting increases in the food at home (+10.7 percent) and food away from home (+4.9 percent) indexes.

Energy

The energy index rose 14.6 percent from January to March, reflecting a 26.9-percent spike in the gasoline index. The utility (piped) gas service index increased 6.5 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the energy index declined 0.9 percent.   

The energy index increased 31.1 percent for the 12 months ending in March, primarily due to a 46.0-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index increased 13.2 percent over the past year and the utility (piped) gas service index rose 9.1 percent.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.0 percent from January to March. Shelter (+1.7 percent) was among the indexes to contribute to the overall increase.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 8.8 percent for the 12 months ending in March, reflecting increases across many indexes, including shelter (+10.4 percent). The new and used motor vehicles index rose 17.6 percent over the past year, led by a 35.1-percent increase in the used cars and trucks index. The new vehicles index rose 9.7 percent over the past year.  

Table A. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, 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
January	0.8		-1.1	0.4	0.7	3.8	0.9	3.4	2.4	9.6
March	0.6		1.9	1.7	0.2	2.1	1.6	4.9	2.1	10.2
May	0.4		0.9	2.2	-0.3	0.9	1.0	6.2
July	0.3		0.1	2.1	1.0	1.8	1.4	6.6
September	0.6		-0.1	1.5	1.4	3.3	1.0	6.1
November	-0.3	2.3	0.2	2.0	0.1	3.2	1.8	8.0

The Consumer Price Index for April 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, May 11, 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 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. 2022	Feb. 2022	Mar. 2022	Mar. 2021	Jan. 2022	Feb. 2022
Expenditure category
All Items	262.052	-	267.590	10.2	2.1	-
Food and beverages	263.847	-	270.458	7.6	2.5	-
Food	265.678	-	272.141	8.2	2.4	-
Food at home	275.891	277.965	286.039	10.7	3.7	2.9
Cereals and bakery products	280.671	-	291.680	5.5	3.9	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	297.540	-	310.999	24.6	4.5	-
Dairy and related products	254.218	-	259.295	2.4	2.0	-
Fruits and vegetables	358.015	-	382.438	4.6	6.8	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	204.115	-	208.107	6.2	2.0	-
Other food at home	215.428	-	220.254	8.2	2.2	-
Food away from home	252.312	-	254.323	4.9	0.8	-
Alcoholic beverages	225.831	-	233.745	0.9	3.5	-
Housing	271.028	-	274.527	10.1	1.3	-
Shelter	311.759	315.723	317.207	10.4	1.7	0.5
Rent of primary residence	319.993	326.595	328.133	12.4	2.5	0.5
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	328.400	331.105	331.818	9.7	1.0	0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	328.400	331.105	331.818	9.7	1.0	0.2
Fuels and utilities	238.542	-	238.106	11.4	-0.2	-
Household energy	188.088	188.332	187.617	13.7	-0.3	-0.4
Energy Services	185.396	185.396	184.108	13.1	-0.7	-0.7
Electricity	183.192	183.192	181.509	13.2	-0.9	-0.9
Utility (piped) gas service	225.311	225.311	239.844	9.1	6.5	6.5
Household furnishings and operations	142.349	-	141.264	5.5	-0.8	-
Apparel	141.660	-	142.124	12.1	0.3	-
Transportation	245.057	-	260.115	20.8	6.1	-
Private transportation	255.484	-	269.619	21.2	5.5	-
New and used motor vehicles(1)	135.312	-	135.010	17.6	-0.2	-
New vehicles	142.415	-	142.104	9.7	-0.2	-
Used cars and trucks	199.214	-	197.049	35.1	-1.1	-
Motor fuel	343.790	370.591	436.822	46.3	27.1	17.9
Gasoline (all types)	336.133	362.358	426.642	46.0	26.9	17.7
Unleaded regular(2)	325.061	351.211	414.520	46.6	27.5	18.0
Unleaded midgrade(2)(3)	340.665	363.184	422.327	41.6	24.0	16.3
Unleaded premium(2)	375.911	398.064	459.797	40.7	22.3	15.5
Medical Care	458.708	-	459.118	4.8	0.1	-
Recreation(1)	128.945	-	129.298	4.3	0.3	-
Education and communication(1)	135.892	-	136.778	1.1	0.7	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	651.989	-	656.274	1.9	0.7	-
Other goods and services	326.703	-	326.894	7.0	0.1	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	262.052	-	267.590	10.2	2.1	-
Commodities	200.241	-	207.008	12.8	3.4	-
Commodities less food & beverages	167.547	-	174.168	16.6	4.0	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	231.077	-	252.479	20.3	9.3	-
Durables	110.027	-	108.982	13.3	-0.9	-
Services	317.069	-	321.410	8.7	1.4	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	251.451	-	257.256	10.7	2.3	-
All items less shelter	241.070	-	246.637	9.9	2.3	-
Commodities less food	170.715	-	177.429	15.8	3.9	-
Nondurables	247.603	-	260.887	12.8	5.4	-
Nondurables less food	230.399	-	250.620	18.4	8.8	-
Services less rent of shelter	316.817	-	319.667	6.2	0.9	-
Services less medical care services	301.876	-	305.974	9.3	1.4	-
Energy	248.129	258.765	284.255	31.1	14.6	9.9
All items less energy	262.951	-	266.080	8.7	1.2	-
All items less food and energy	262.766	-	265.332	8.8	1.0	-
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.