The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area fell by 0.3 percent from September to November 2025. Victoria G. Lee, Regional Commissioner, stated that “the index for all items less food and energy declined 0.2 percent over the two-month span.” The indexes for both food and energy also dropped by 1.0 percent each during this period.
Due to a lapse in appropriations, BLS did not collect survey data for October 2025 and is unable to retroactively gather these data. However, for some indexes that rely on nonsurvey sources, BLS was able to acquire most of the necessary information after the fact.
Over the past year ending in November, the overall CPI-U rose by 3.0 percent in the Tampa region. The index excluding food and energy increased by 2.7 percent over this time frame. Food prices climbed by 4.2 percent, while energy costs went up by 5.2 percent compared to last year.
Within the bi-monthly period from September to November, grocery store prices saw a decrease of 1.9 percent with declines across four out of six major categories, such as cereals and bakery products which dropped by 5.0 percent and other food at home down by 2.1 percent. Restaurant and cafeteria purchases increased slightly—up by 0.2 percent during this span.
For the past twelve months, prices for eating away from home rose more sharply than those at grocery stores—6.1 percent versus a rise of 2.6 percent in at-home food prices.
Energy prices were also mixed; while they decreased slightly between September and November—with gasoline falling by 2.5 percent—they have risen over the past year despite gasoline being down by nearly four percent since last November.
Excluding food and energy components, shelter costs declined by 1.2 percent from September to November due partly to lower lodging away from home rates; meanwhile recreation expenses rose by just over two percent within these two months.
Year-over-year data show increases across shelter-related categories: both owners’ equivalent rent and rent indexes went up by about three percent each.
The next release of CPI data for December is scheduled for January 13, followed one month later with figures covering January’s inflation numbers in Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater.
The CPI tracks changes in consumer prices using a fixed basket of goods and services but regional indexes like Tampa’s are based on smaller sample sizes than national figures so may display more volatility due to sampling or measurement errors; these local measures do not reflect price level differences between cities but rather track how much average prices change within their respective areas since their base periods.
The Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater Core Based Statistical Area includes Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties in Florida.
For further technical details about how CPI is calculated nationally or locally readers can refer to resources such as the national CPI news release or the Handbook of Methods provided online.
