South Florida consumer prices were up 2.9% in February compared to a year earlier. That is slightly higher than the national inflation rate of 2.8%, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. But consumer economic attitudes are turning darker.
Food prices underpinned the rise. Restaurant and grocery prices were up 3.5% versus last February. Nationally, egg prices have almost doubled in the past year. A dozen eggs averages almost $6 across the country.
READ MORE: South Florida small businesses scramble amid national egg shortage, high prices
Fruit and vegetable prices have risen over 4% in the region. That data is not adjusted for seasonal changes.
One bright spot for drivers was lower gasoline prices compared to last winter. Gasoline was down 6.4%.
The core inflation rate, which strips out more volatile food and energy prices, was up 3.3% in February from a year ago. Core inflation is seen as an indicator of more sustained underlying price trends.
Compared to December, regional inflation started off the year by speeding up. It may signal a return of inflationary pressures as the Trump administration took office and started deportations, trade tariffs and firing federal employees.
The moves complicate the work for the Federal Reserve. The central bank is charged with keeping prices steady and full unemployment.
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Pres. Raphael Bostic recently said Trump policies have put the economy into “incredible flux.” Bostic’s region includes Florida. He is not a voting member of the Fed’s monetary policy committee this year.
The bank’s interest rate setting committee meets next week. It is expected to make no changes to its borrowing rates as it waits out recent economic turbulence, including a drop in consumer confidence.
South Florida’s economy has proven resilient. Its 2.8% unemployment rate in December was one of the lowest in the nation among large metropolitan areas. And after suffering the highest inflation rate for months, consumer price trends slowed considerably in 2024.
After three months of rising, consumer sentiment in the Sunshine State dropped in February.
“The decline in consumer sentiment is primarily driven by Floridians’ pessimistic expectations about future economic outlooks, which have decreased for the second consecutive month,” said Hector H. Sandoval, director of the Economic Analysis Program at the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research.
“Expectations for the U.S. economy dropped sharply, nearly reversing the gains seen since the presidential election in November,” he said.
