The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach declined 1.0 percent from February to April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index declined 1.0 percent over the bi-monthly period, while the energy index fell 11.0-percent. In contrast, the food index advanced 5.0 percent from February to April. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

The all items CPI-U declined 0.5 percent for the 12 months ending April, reflecting an 18.6-percent fall in the energy index. The food index advanced 5.1 percent over the past year, while the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index increased 5.0 percent from February to April, led by a 7.9-percent jump in the food at home index. The food away from home index also increased over the bi-monthly period, up 1.2 percent.   

The food index advanced 5.1 percent for the 12 months ending April, reflecting increases in the food at home (6.7 percent) and food away from home (2.9 percent) indexes.  

Energy

The energy index declined 11.0 percent from February to April, reflecting a 20.0-percent drop in the gasoline index. The electricity and the utility (piped) gas service indexes were unchanged over the bi-monthly period.

The energy index fell 18.6 percent for the 12 months ending April, led by a 29.4-percent fall in the gasoline index. The electricity index also declined, down 4.6 percent over the past 12 months.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy fell 1.0 percent from February to April, led by declines in the motor vehicle insurance (-17.2 percent) and apparel (-11.0 percent) indexes. In contrast, the medical care index rose 1.3 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.5 percent over the past 12 months. Several indexes increased over the year, including shelter (1.2 percent) and medical care (4.6 percent). Motor vehicle insurance (-15.8 percent) and apparel (-7.7 percent) were among the indexes to decline over the past year.

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	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.2	1.6	1.3	4.0	2.6	3.2	1.0	1.2	0.4	1.4
April	0.7	1.4	-0.5	2.8	-0.1	3.5	0.8	2.2	-1.0	-0.5
June	0.6	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.5	4.2	-0.5	1.2
August	0.0	1.6	0.3	2.3	-0.3	3.6	0.4	1.9
October	0.5	1.9	1.0	2.7	0.8	3.4	0.4	1.5
December	0.8	2.9	-0.1	1.8	-0.6	2.9	-0.2	2.0

The Consumer Price Index for May 2020 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

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 5,000 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 (1982-84) that equals 100.0. An increase of 16.5 percent, for example, is shown as 116.5. This change can also be expressed in dollars as follows: the price of a base period "market basket" of goods and services in the CPI has risen from $10 in 1982-84 to $11.65. For further details see the CPI home page on the Internet at www.bls.gov/cpi and the BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17, The Consumer Price Index, available on the Internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch17.pdf.

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.