March PCE inflation rises 3.5% and keeps the Fed on hold
Core PCE climbed 0.3% on the month and 3.2% year over year, the Fed’s key policy gauge.
Core PCE climbed 0.3% on the month and 3.2% year over year, the Fed’s key policy gauge.
The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge rose 0.7% in March and 3.5% from a year earlier, the biggest annual gain in nearly three years.
Core PCE held at 3.2% year over year and rose 0.3% in March, leaving inflation far above the Fed's 2% target.
PCE rose 0.7% in March and 3.5% from a year earlier, the hottest annual reading since mid-2023.
Gasoline prices jumped 24.1% in March, and Reuters said the Iran war, not broad inflation, drove much of the rise.
U.S. consumer sentiment hit a record low in April as Iran-driven gas prices pushed the University of Michigan index to 49.8.
U.S. consumer sentiment sank to a record 49.8 in April as year-ahead inflation expectations rose to 4.7%, with gasoline and diesel prices driving the slump.
S&P Global’s April flash composite PMI rose to 52.0, but output prices hit a near four-year high and supplier delays worsened as war-driven cost pressures built.
March CPI rose 0.9% from February and 3.3% from a year earlier as the Iran war pushed gasoline and other fuel costs higher.
March CPI rose 0.9% as gasoline prices jumped 21.2%, the biggest monthly gain since 1967, adding pressure to household budgets and other prices.
February’s PCE inflation rose 0.4% on the month and 2.8% year over year, keeping the Fed under pressure as rate cuts move farther away.