The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed that consumer prices remained elevated in November, ahead of the central bank’s policy meeting next week.
The Commerce Department on Thursday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.2% in November on a monthly basis and is up 2.8% from last year. While the monthly figure was in line with the estimate of LSEG economists, the annual inflation reading was slightly hotter than the 2.7% economists anticipated.
Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.8% year over year. Both of those figures were in line with the expectations of economists polled by LSEG.
The report also included delayed PCE inflation data from October, which showed that both headline PCE and core PCE inflation were up 2.7% from a year ago in October.
Federal Reserve policymakers are focusing on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation. Headline PCE was in the 2.7% to 2.8% range from August through November, while core PCE was between 2.7% and 2.9% from May through November.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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