Miami inflation at 4%; could Tampa follow?

When the government reports the national monthly gauge of inflation, it's hard to know how our region compares.

Fortunately, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the consumer price index (CPI) for two large metro areas in Florida: Miami and Tampa.

The Miami CPI, reported bi-monthly, showed a surprising annual jump of 4% in April. That's 0.8 percentage points higher than the national CPI, which turned in an annualized 3.2% last month.

Because the government reports Tampa's CPI only twice a year, we'll have to wait until this summer for fresh data. But it's likely to show the same culprits behind higher prices in Miami: energy, food and medical care costs are rising faster than they have in the past.

As everyone is keenly aware, gasoline prices have risen the most. In Miami and nationally, gasoline prices rose 32% over the year ending in April.

Curiously, Miami's CPI also reported an 8% annual jump in the prices for apparel. That compares with a 0.1% annual increase nationally.

Gary Jackson, the director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, speculates the rebounding economy and tourists fueled the apparel-price increases.

But more importantly, Jackson hopes the increases in fuel and food will be transitory. If prices of these commodities remain elevated for a longer period of time, their impact will spread throughout the economy. Already, Jackson says dips in the University of Florida's consumer confidence survey shows that higher prices are starting to make an impact.