According to PCE, inflation likely stayed stubborn in February, in contrast to a different measure that showed it decelerating.
by Diccon Hyatt
Investopedia
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-2205105083-d49968ffb46e4e2d9d913bf1f5e409de.jpg)
Inflation was pretty tame in February—or was it? A report on inflation scheduled for Friday could throw some cold water on the idea that consumer price increases are significantly decelerating.
A report on Personal Consumption Expenditures by the Bureau of Economic Analysis is expected to show the cost of living rose 2.5% over the last 12 months, the same annual rate as in January, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. The forecast calls for “core” inflation, which excludes volatile prices for food and energy, to have risen 2.7% over the year in February, up from 2.6% in January.
If the forecasts are on target, the PCE inflation measure would tell a different story than the Consumer Price Index, a different official inflation figure. That measure showed price increases decelerated faster than expected in February, fueling optimism that the post-pandemic bubble of high inflation is slowly but surely deflating.