Inflation & Prices

Fed’s Preferred Inflation Gauges Cool, Reinforcing Rate-Cut Tilt

  • Core PCE rose 0.1% for a second month; overall index fell
  • By one measure, inflation is running below Fed’s 2% target
US Core PCE Rises Less Than Forecast at 0.1 % in November
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The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation barely rose in November and trailed policymakers’ 2% target by one measure, reinforcing the central bank’s pivot toward interest-rate cuts next year.

The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.1% from a month earlier after a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in October, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. From a year ago, the Fed’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation advanced 3.2%.