by Josh Schafer
Yahoo! Finance
New data revealed a slowdown in the US economy in the first three months of the year. But even more concerning to investors was that inflation accelerated faster than Wall Street had expected, sending shockwaves through markets on Thursday.
The latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed the “core” Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories, grew by 3.7% year over year in the first quarter, above estimates for 3.4% and significantly higher than 2% gain seen in the prior quarter.
This marked the first quarterly increase in the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge in a year, underscoring concerns that the central bank may not cut interest rates as quickly as it has projected.