Inflation & Prices

US Core PCE Prices Jump Most in Four Months as Spending Picks Up

  • Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.3% in September
  • Cars, prescription drugs and travel drive pickup in spending
Fed's Preferred Measure of Underlying Inflation Jumps
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The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of underlying inflation accelerated to a four-month high in September and consumer spending picked up, keeping the door open to another interest-rate hike in the months ahead.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3% in September, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis report out Friday. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending jumped 0.4% last month.