Inflation & Prices
US Inflation Pressures Persist, Reinforcing Case for Fed Hike
- Core PCE price gauge rose 0.3% in March for a second month
- Services measure watched by Fed’s Powell decelerated
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Two key gauges showed persistent US inflation pressures in recent months, buttressing the case for another Federal Reserve interest-rate hike next week.
The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy, the Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, rose 0.3% in March from the prior month and 4.6% from a year earlier, a Commerce Department report showed Friday. The Fed targets 2% based on a broader measure but views the core gauge as a better indicator of the trend.