Americans have suffered through three years of Bidenflation, and by all accounts, the rate of inflation is improving. But some people, mostly those affiliated with the current administration, are taking a victory lap based mostly on the PCE price index, while other inflation measurements are still coming in at distressingly high levels. Gwynn Guilford reports for The Wall Street Journal:
The core index of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, the personal consumption expenditures price index, increased 2% from the prior quarter, the same as in the third quarter and in line with the Fed’s target.
Though widely expected, that trend is good news for the Fed. Inflation has slowed faster in recent months than most economists had expected, clearing the path for the Fed to start cutting rates—something some economists expect could happen as soon as March.
Still, the PCE price index trend contrasts with that of the other major inflation measure, the consumer-price index—which, due to methodological differences, more closely captures the prices consumers experience.
And core CPI is still running a bit hotter than anyone wants it to.
“These divergent trends could make the optics of cutting in March tricky,” said Tiffany Wilding, economist at Pimco, in a recent note.
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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
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