This story on the January 2026 PCE inflation report is developing and will be updated with more details.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge remained stubbornly high in January as consumers continued to face elevated price growth.
The Commerce Department on Friday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.3% on a monthly basis in January and is up 2.8% from a year ago. The monthly figure was in-line with the expectations of economists polled by LSEG, while the annual figure was slightly lower than the 2.9% estimate.
Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.4% from a month ago and increased 3.1% year over year. Both figures were in line with economists’ expectations from the LSEG poll.
Federal Reserve policymakers are focusing on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation. Compared with December’s readings, headline PCE inflation declined slightly from 2.9% while core PCE rose from 3%.
FED OFFICIALS CLOSELY MONITOR IRAN CONFLICT FOR POTENTIAL INFLATION IMPACT
