U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation in November last year remained in the upper 2% range. With inflation still elevated, expectations are strengthening that the benchmark interest rate will be kept on hold at next week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
The Commerce Department said on the 22nd (local time) that the PCE price index in November last year rose 2.8% from a year earlier. That was 0.1 percentage point higher than October's 2.7% and matched the market consensus compiled by Dow Jones. The PCE price index is an inflation gauge that measures the prices U.S. residents pay when purchasing goods and services.
The core PCE price index, excluding energy and food, was 2.7% and 2.8% in October and November last year, respectively. The month-over-month increase was the same at 0.2%.
The PCE price index increases released that day were broadly in line with analysts' expectations. The PCE price index increase slowed to 2.3% in March last year, then rebounded to 2.8% in September, and has since shown a pattern of stagnating in the upper 2% range.