In February, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index in the United States increased by 2.5% compared to the same period last year. Excluding food and energy, which are highly volatile during this period, the core PCE price index rose by 2.8% year-on-year, maintaining the same growth rate as in January.
On the 28th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce released this personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index. The PCE price index for February increased by 0.3% from the previous month, while the core PCE price index rose by 0.4%.
The nominal personal consumption expenditure for February, also announced on this day, increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month, falling short of the expert forecast of a 0.5% increase. The household personal consumption expenditure (PCE) in the United States increased by $87.8 billion, rising 0.4% from the previous month.
The real PCE, adjusted for inflation, only increased by 0.1% from the previous month. While this reflects an improvement compared to the 0.6% decrease in January, it did not meet the market expectation of a 0.3% increase.
There was a prevailing view that personal consumption expenditure had decreased in January due to an unusual cold snap. In February, while Wall Street expected seasonal factors to weaken and consumption to rebound, the actual performance fell short of expectations.