The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater declined 0.1 percent from May to July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted the index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. In contrast, both the food index and the energy index increased from May to July, up 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. (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 5.9 percent for the 12 months ending in July. The index for all items less food and energy increased 7.3 percent over the past year. The food index continued to rise, up 5.3 percent over the last 12 months. In contrast, the energy index fell 7.9 percent over the past year.(See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, July 2020–July 2023

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
Jul 2020	1.8	2.5
Sep 2020	3.3	3.6
Nov 2020	3.2	3.5
Jan 2021	3.4	3.3
Mar 2021	4.9	4.3
May 2021	6.2	5.2
Jul 2021	6.6	5.7
Sep 2021	6.1	5.3
Nov 2021	8.0	6.7
Jan 2022	9.6	9.0
Mar 2022	10.2	8.8
May 2022	11.3	9.9
Jul 2022	11.2	10.1
Sep 2022	10.5	10.1
Nov 2022	9.6	9.7
Jan 2023	8.9	8.7
Mar 2023	7.7	9.3
May 2023	7.3	9.0
Jul 2023	5.9	7.3

The food index rose 0.6 percent from May to July, reflecting increases in the food away from home (+0.8 percent) and the food at home (+0.5 percent) indexes. Three of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the bi-monthly period, led by the index for other food at home (+3.0 percent). In contrast, the index for cereals and bakery products declined 2.9 percent over the two-month period.  

The food index advanced 5.3 percent for the 12 months ending in July, led by an 11.0-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the past year, up 1.3 percent. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the year, including dairy and related products, other food at home, and cereal and bakery products. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs declined 2.8 percent over the past 12 months.

The energy index rose 0.2 percent from May to July, reflecting an increase in the gasoline index (+0.4 percent). The natural gas index edged down 0.2 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the electricity index was unchanged.

The energy index declined 7.9 percent for the 12 months ending in July, led by an 18.0-percent fall in the gasoline index. The natural gas index declined 9.0 percent over the past year, while the electricity index increased 9.1 percent.

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent from May to July. Among the various indexes to decline over the bi-monthly period include education and communication (-3.3 percent), apparel (-3.4 percent), and owners’ equivalent rent (-0.3 percent). In contrast, the index for household furnishings and operations rose 5.5 percent from May to July.

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 7.3 percent for the 12 months ending in July, primarily reflecting a 9.8-percent increase in the shelter index. Within shelter, owners’ equivalent rent rose 11.5 percent over the past year and rent of primary residence increased 9.8 percent. The medical care and household furnishing and operations indexes also increased over the past year, up 6.8 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Consumer Price Index for September 2023 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. (ET).

The Consumer Price Index for Tampa is published bi-monthly. 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, 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.