Consumer Price Index hikes in South Florida outpace nation

South Florida’s consumer prices rose 9% for the 12 months ended in April, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week, far faster than the 4.9% increase for the US as a whole, which has felt 10 straight months of cooling inflation since it peaked at 9.1% nationally last June.

While a 9% price rise is light years faster than South Florida increases in earlier years, it is slower than any 12 months here since December 2021.

The region’s index for all items other than food and energy rose 10.5% in the period and the food price index rose 7.9%, but energy costs in the region actually fell 1.4% in the 12 months, the bureau highlighted. That energy price drop reflected a 13.1% year-over-year fall in the price of gasoline. In contrast, the cost of electricity rose 19.6% over the past year and natural gas costs rose 6.7%.

The data cover Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Historically, South Florida’s 12-month price change ending in April showed a 2.2% rise in April 2019, a half percent dip in April 2020, a 4.1% increase in April 2021 and a 9.1% increase for the 12 months ending in April 2022.

The peak annual increase in recent years was 10.2% in August 2022, before prices rises began moderating to the present 9%.
Among the steeper cost rises in the area over the 12 months was a 15.4% higher housing cost. For renters, costs rose during the 12 months a full 19%.

Thanks to the year-over-year fall in gasoline prices, the costs of transportation in the region fell one-half percent in the year. Prices of new and used motor vehicles fell 1.9%. The new cars rose 4.5%, but the used cars and trucks fell 7.2% in cost.

The costs of medical care rose 1.3% in the region for the year, the cost of recreation rose a half percent, and tuition and school fees rose a combined 3.1%. The cost of services, however, soared 13%, perhaps reflecting a widespread labor scarcity.