The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s primary inflation reading, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.3%. Excluding food and energy, core PCE posted respective readings of 0.2% and 2.7%, compared with estimates for 0.1% and 2.6%. Consumer spending and income showed further signs of weakening. Spending fell 0.1% for the month, while personal income declined 0.4%.
Prices that consumers pay rose slightly in May, while the annual inflation rate edged further away from the Federal Reserve’s target, according to a Commerce Department report Friday.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s primary inflation reading, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.3%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective levels of 0.1% and 2.3%.
Excluding food and energy, core PCE posted respective readings of 0.2% and 2.7%, compared with estimates for 0.1% and 2.6%. Fed policymakers consider core to be a better measure of long-term trends because of historic volatility in