Fox : Consumer Price Index, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach – December 2019

News Release Information

20-52-ATL
Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Area prices down 0.2 percent since October; up 2.0 percent over the year

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach declined 0.2 percent from October to December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the all items less food and energy index edged down 0.2 percent over the bi-monthly period. Since October, the food index declined 0.3 percent, while the energy index rose 0.2 percent. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, bi-monthly changes may reflect the impact of seasonal influences.)

From December 2018 to December 2019, the all items CPI-U increased 2.0 percent. Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent and the energy index increased 2.8 percent. In contrast, the food index declined 0.8 percent over the past 12 months. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

Food

The food index edged down 0.3 percent from October to December, reflecting a 0.6-percent decrease in the food at home index. The food away from home index edged up 0.2 percent over the bi-monthly period.

The food index declined 0.8 percent for the 12 months ending December 2019. The food at home index fell 2.4 percent over the year, while the food away from home index rose 1.4 percent.

Energy

The energy index rose 0.2 percent from October to December, led by a 0.5-percent increase in the gasoline index. The electricity index edged down 0.2 percent from October to December.

Over the year, the energy index advanced 2.8 percent, reflecting a 4.0-percent increase in the gasoline index and a 1.5 percent increase in the electricity index.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy edged down 0.2 percent from October to December. Several indexes declined over the bi-monthly period including apparel (-2.6 percent) and shelter (-0.2 percent). Medical care (0.7 percent) and new vehicles (1.7 percent) were among the indexes to increase from October to December.

From December 2018 to December 2019, the index for all items less food and energy advanced 2.3 percent as several indexes recorded increases, most notably shelter (2.2 percent).

Month	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month	2-month	12-month
February	0.3	0.4	0.2	1.6	1.3	4.0	2.6	3.2	1.0	1.2
April	0.8	0.5	0.7	1.4	-0.5	2.8	-0.1	3.5	0.8	2.2
June	0.4	1.2	0.6	1.6	-0.2	2.0	0.5	4.2	-0.5	1.2
August	0.0	1.3	0.0	1.6	0.3	2.3	-0.3	3.6	0.4	1.9
October	0.2	1.1	0.5	1.9	1.0	2.7	0.8	3.4	0.4	1.5
December	-0.1	1.6	0.8	2.9	-0.1	1.8	-0.6	2.9	-0.2	2.0

The Consumer Price Index for January 2020 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, February 13, 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: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

Item and Group	Indexes			Percent change from-
	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019	Dec. 2019	Dec. 2018	Oct. 2019	Nov. 2019
Expenditure category
All Items	271.381	-	270.918	2.0	-0.2	-
All items (November 1977=100)	437.429	-	436.682	-	-	-
Food and beverages	264.349	-	263.978	-0.5	-0.1	-
Food	266.584	-	265.870	-0.8	-0.3	-
Food at home	252.022	250.919	250.513	-2.4	-0.6	-0.2
Cereals and bakery products	278.892	-	281.170	-1.6	0.8	-
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	240.567	-	237.558	-2.3	-1.3	-
Dairy and related products	223.795	-	224.407	1.1	0.3	-
Fruits and vegetables	329.886	-	332.475	-3.5	0.8	-
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	242.821	-	236.703	-6.4	-2.5	-
Other food at home	210.316	-	207.998	-1.1	-1.1	-
Food away from home	292.408	-	292.916	1.4	0.2	-
Alcoholic beverages	234.778	-	238.679	3.5	1.7	-
Housing	286.921	-	286.638	2.4	-0.1	-
Shelter	329.987	330.523	329.372	2.2	-0.2	-0.3
Rent of primary residence	322.758	323.011	322.307	2.7	-0.1	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of residences	333.849	333.201	332.369	2.5	-0.4	-0.2
Owners' equiv. rent of primary residence	333.849	333.201	332.369	2.5	-0.4	-0.2
Fuels and utilities	181.771	-	181.686	2.2	0.0	-
Household energy	153.395	139.650	153.253	1.4	-0.1	9.7
Energy services	150.683	136.957	150.450	1.4	-0.2	9.9
Electricity	147.673	134.016	147.442	1.5	-0.2	10.0
Utility (piped) gas service	-	181.002	181.002	-	-	0.0
Household furnishings and operations	167.764	-	169.339	5.5	0.9	-
Apparel	143.837	-	140.030	5.9	-2.6	-
Transportation	222.471	-	221.683	0.9	-0.4	-
Private transportation	224.577	-	226.498	0.1	0.9	-
New and used motor vehicles	113.716	-	114.821	-3.5	1.0	-
New vehicles	232.026	-	235.900	0.7	1.7	-
Used cars and trucks	295.308	-	292.350	-0.8	-1.0	-
Motor fuel	223.640	219.677	224.746	3.9	0.5	2.3
Gasoline (all types)	220.902	216.955	222.011	4.0	0.5	2.3
Unleaded regular	216.959	212.749	218.052	4.2	0.5	2.5
Unleaded midgrade	223.451	221.507	224.558	4.2	0.5	1.4
Unleaded premium	243.301	241.716	244.493	2.5	0.5	1.1
Motor vehicle insurance	875.411	-	889.670	0.9	1.6	-
Medical Care	566.276	-	570.315	3.4	0.7	-
Recreation	122.072	-	121.817	1.6	-0.2	-
Education and communication	122.955	-	123.070	4.0	0.1	-
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,013.595	-	1,012.806	3.5	-0.1	-
Other goods and services	364.958	-	362.685	1.3	-0.6	-
Commodity and service group
All Items	271.381	-	270.918	2.0	-0.2	-
Commodities	204.113	-	204.066	1.0	0.0	-
Commodities less food & beverages	167.891	-	168.010	2.3	0.1	-
Nondurables less food & beverages	202.603	-	201.391	3.1	-0.6	-
Durables	130.164	-	131.946	0.9	1.4	-
Services	322.686	-	321.918	2.4	-0.2	-
Special aggregate indexes
All items less medical care	258.891	-	258.250	1.8	-0.2	-
All items less shelter	240.489	-	240.106	1.8	-0.2	-
Commodities less food	170.488	-	170.744	2.4	0.2	-
Nondurables	235.713	-	234.893	1.1	-0.3	-
Nondurables less food	204.639	-	203.756	3.1	-0.4	-
Services less rent of shelter	320.559	-	319.562	2.5	-0.3	-
Services less medical care services	304.454	-	303.467	2.1	-0.3	-
Energy	184.952	175.568	185.368	2.8	0.2	5.6
All items less energy	281.106	-	280.544	1.9	-0.2	-
All items less food and energy	283.482	-	282.946	2.3	-0.2	-
- Data not available. NOTE: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date. Data not seasonally adjusted.