Washington, April 26, 2024 (AFP)
The US central bank's favored measure of inflation accelerated last month, according to government data published Friday, with services rising at a rapid clip.
The hotter print will likely cement the view that inflation, while down sharply since 2022, remains a challenge, and reduces the likelihood of an interest rate cut this summer.
It also complicates US president Joe Biden's reelection campaign, as the Democratic incumbent seeks to convince still-skeptical consumers that the economy is heading in the right direction ahead of November's vote.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in March, up 0.2 percentage points from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said in a statement.
This was above the median forecast of 2.6 percent in a survey of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
Much of the overall annual rise came from the services sector, which increased at an annual rate of 4.0 percent.
Among the more volatile items, energy prices rose by 2.6 percent from a year ago, while food prices were up 1.5 percent.
On a monthly basis, PCE inflation rose by 0.3 percent, in line with the figure from February.
The closely watched "core" measure of inflation, which strips out food and energy costs, rose at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in March, unchanged from a month earlier.

Sumber : AFP