WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Federal Reserve\u2019s favored inflation gauge accelerated slightly in August from a year earlier. The Commerce Department reported Friday that\u2026<\/b>
\nThe Federal Reserve\u2019s favored inflation gauge accelerated slightly in August from a year earlier.
The Commerce Department reported Friday that its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was up 2.7% in August from a year earlier, a tick higher from a 2.6% year-over-year increase in July and most since February.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation showed a 2.9% increase in prices from August 2024, same as in July. The increases were what forecasters had expected.
Inflation has come down since rising prices prompted the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. But annual price gains remain stubbornly above the central bank\u2019s 2% target.
Last week, the Fed went ahead and reduced the rate for the first time this year, lowering borrowing costs to help a deteriorating U.S. job market. But it\u2019s been cautious about cutting, waiting to see what impact President Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping taxes on imports have on inflation and the broader economy.
For months, Trump has relentlessly pushed the Fed to lower rates more aggressively, calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell \u201cToo Late\u201d and a \u201cmoron\u201d and arguing that there is \u201cno inflation.\u201d
Last month, Trump sought to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Fed\u2019s governing board, in an effort to gain greater control over the central bank. She has challenged her dismissal in court, and the Supreme Court will decide whether she can stay on the job while the case goes through the judicial system.
The Fed tends to favor the PCE inflation gauge that the government issued Friday over the better-known consumer price index. The PCE index tries to account for changes in how people shop when inflation jumps. It can capture, for example, when consumers switch from pricier national brands to cheaper store brands.
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