The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 0.5 percent from November to January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the bi-monthly increase in the all items index was largely attributed to an increase in the shelter index. (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 3.9 percent for the 12 months ending in January. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy rose 4.8 percent over the past year. The food index continued to increase, up 4.1 percent over the last 12 months. In contrast, the energy index fell 6.3 percent over the past year. (See table 1.)

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in CPI-U, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL, January 2021–January 2024

Month	All items	All items less food and energy
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
Sep 2023	6.7	7.3
Nov 2023	5.2	6.0
Jan 2024	3.9	4.8

The food index increased 1.2 percent from November to January, largely due to a 1.3-percent rise in the food at home index. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the bi-monthly period, including cereals and bakery products (+4.3 percent) and other food at home (+2.0 percent). The index for food away from home also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 1.1 percent.

The food index advanced 4.1 percent for the 12 months ending in January, led by a 6.5-percent increase in the food away from home index. The food at home index also increased over the past year, up 2.4 percent. Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the last 12 months, including nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+8.2 percent) and dairy and related products (+6.7 percent) indexes.

The energy index increased from November to January, reflecting an increase in the index for gasoline (+0.3 percent).

The energy index declined 6.3 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The gasoline (-7.6 percent) and electricity (-6.0 percent) indexes contributed to the decrease.  

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent from November to January. The shelter index increased 1.8 percent over the bi-monthly period, reflecting increases in the owners’ equivalent rent (+1.2 percent) and rent of primary residence (+1.5 percent) indexes. Among the indexes to decline over the two-month period include education and communication (-6.1 percent) and the index for new and used motor vehicles (-1.9 percent).

The index for all items less food and energy advanced 4.8 percent for the 12 months ending in January. The index for shelter (+7.2 percent) was the largest contributor as owners’ equivalent rent (+7.3 percent) and rent of primary residence (+6.5 percent) continued to increase over the past year. Other indexes with notable increases over the past year include medical care (+6.3 percent) and household furnishing and operations (+5.2 percent).

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Consumer Price Index for March 2024 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 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.