Key Fed measure shows core inflation at 2.8%, in line with expectations

Key Fed measure shows core inflation at 2.8%, in line with expectations


Customers shop for food at a grocery store on Jan. 15, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Inflation closed out 2024 on a strong note, as a price gauge the Federal Reserve focuses on came in well above the central bank’s target.

The personal consumption expenditures price index increased 2.6% on a year over year basis, 0.2 percentage point higher than the November reading and in line with the Dow Jones estimate.

Excluding food and energy, core PCE registered a 2.8% reading, also meeting expectations and the same as the prior month. Though the Fed considers both readings, historically officials have seen core as the better gauge of long-run inflation.

On a monthly basis, headline PCE rose 0.3% while core increased 0.2%, both in line with forecasts as well.

The Fed targets annual inflation at 2%, a level the price gauge has not seen since February 2021.

The report comes two days after the central bank voted unanimously to hold its key interest rate in a range between 4.25%-4.5%, taking a break after three consecutive cuts totaling a full percentage point.

In remarks delivered Friday morning, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said she expects inflation to decelerate through 2025, but thinks the central bank should stay on hold until there are clear signs that is happening.

“There is still more work to be done to bring inflation closer to our 2 percent goal. I would like to see progress in lowering inflation resume before we make further adjustments to the target range,” Bowman said in remarks before business leaders in Portsmouth, N.H. “I do expect that inflation will begin to decline again and that by year-end it will be lower than where it now stands.”

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.



Source

Apple, Microsoft cross  trillion market cap
World

Apple, Microsoft cross $4 trillion market cap

Apple CEO Tim Cook, left, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Reuters Apple and Microsoft shares rose on Tuesday, pushing the companies over a market cap of $4 trillion. Both companies are still behind Nvidia, which is the world’s most valuable company with a market cap of over $4.6 trillion. Microsoft previously hit the $4 trillion […]

Read More
OpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholder
World

OpenAI completes restructure, solidifying Microsoft as a major shareholder

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to media following a Q&A at the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025. Shelby Tauber | Reuters OpenAI on Tuesday announced it has completed its recapitalization, cementing its structure as a nonprofit with a controlling stake in its for-profit business. The artificial intelligence startup said its […]

Read More
Amazon laying off about 14,000 corporate workers as it invests more in AI
World

Amazon laying off about 14,000 corporate workers as it invests more in AI

People pass by The Spheres in downtown Seattle, Washington, on June 25, 2025. Juan Mabromata | AFP | Getty Images Amazon said Tuesday that it will lay off about 14,000 corporate employees, marking the latest cuts in the company’s multi-year effort to rein in costs. In a blog post, the company wrote that the layoffs […]

Read More