Inflation? What inflation?

As the Federal Reserve meets to discuss raising short-term interest rates, one of the key questions officials will ponder is whether inflation is high enough to warrant an increase.

On the Gulf Coast, inflation overall is almost nonexistent. The consumer price index for the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater region from the first half of 2014 to the first half of 2015 was up just 0.3%, according to data published Aug. 19 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bureau publishes inflation data for major metro areas such as Tampa-St. Petersburg twice a year. The local area is a good gauge for the rest of the coast stretching to Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples.

A big reason for the suppressed inflation is the lower cost of energy. The energy index posted its largest year-over-year decline in the first half of 2015, falling 18.2% from the first half of 2014 because of a 30.7% drop in motor fuel.

Still, there is some inflation in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area when you exclude volatile commodity prices. Excluding food and energy, inflation rose 2%, driven by shelter (up 4.8%), medical care (2.2%) and recreation (1.7%).