by Nicholas Jasinski
Barron’s
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure accelerated slightly in December, as price growth remains stubbornly above the central bank’s goal.
Fed policymakers are on hold with interest rates until the inflation picture improves.
The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index rose 0.3% in December and was up 2.6% from a year earlier, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday. That matched expectations and followed a 0.1% uptick in November and 0.2% in October.
A spike in energy prices helped to lift the headline PCE price index in December. The combined cost of gasoline, electricity, and other energy goods and services jumped 2.7% during the month—but was still down by 1.1% from a year earlier.