by John Carney
Breitbart.com
The Federal Reserve’s go-to inflation gauge showed a slight easing of inflation in June and consumer spending remained solid, bolstering the argument that the Fed’s policy could be “just right” and undermining calls for an urgent rate cut.
The core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which omits food and energy costs, ticked up just 0.2 percent from May, which annualizes to a 2.2 percent increase. Over the past year, it is up rose 2.6 percent, according to Friday’s data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The year-over-year figure was slightly higher than expected.
Inflation-adjusted consumer spending also climbed 0.2 percent, with May’s numbers seeing a positive revision.
On a three-month annualized basis, core inflation dipped to 2.3 percent, the lowest since December. The six-month annualized rate is a still high 3.4 percent.