The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area declined by 0.2 percent from June to August, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee stated that “the index for all items less food and energy fell 0.3 percent over the two-month period.” During this same timeframe, the energy index remained unchanged while the food index increased by 0.1 percent.
Over the last year, from August 2024 to August 2025, the overall CPI-U for the region rose by 2.5 percent. The index excluding food and energy went up by 2.4 percent during this period, while food prices climbed by 4.8 percent and energy prices edged up by 0.2 percent.
In detail, grocery store purchases increased in four out of six major categories between June and August, with notable rises in nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (+4.0 percent) as well as dairy products (+3.1 percent). However, fruits and vegetables dropped by 3.8 percent over these two months.
For restaurant and similar purchases—referred to as “food away from home”—the index was unchanged from June to August but advanced by 5.0 percent over the past year.
The gasoline component within the energy index decreased slightly (down 0.1 percent) over two months but saw a larger decline of 9.1 percent compared to one year ago.
Other consumer categories showed mixed results during June through August: household furnishings and operations declined sharply (-5.9 percent), apparel dropped (-5.4 percent), other goods and services decreased (-2.5 percent), and medical care also slipped (-0.6 percent).
Shelter costs increased moderately; both owners’ equivalent rent and rent indexes were up by 0.4 percent since June, contributing to a yearly shelter increase of 3.0 percent.
Indexes for alcoholic beverages (+13.3 percent) and education/communication (+1.4 percent) also posted increases during the recent bi-monthly period.
Local CPI figures are published every two months for Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach using a smaller sample size than national averages; this leads to greater volatility in local readings due to higher sampling error rates (https://www.bls.gov/cpi/). The Bureau notes that these figures reflect only price changes within each area since their base periods rather than direct comparisons between cities or regions.
Upcoming releases include September’s CPI on October 15, followed by October’s data scheduled for November 13 at https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/news-release/consumerpriceindex_miami.htm.
