January’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) showed that headline inflation rose 0.3% for the month, with the year-over-year reading falling from 2.6% to 2.4%. Core PCE, the Fed’s preferred method which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.4% monthly. The year-over-year reading fell from 2.9% to 2.8%, pushing this important metric one step closer to the Fed’s 2% target and its lowest level in almost three years!
These PCE readings were in line with expectations, which was welcome news after previous inflation reports for January (Consumer and Producer Price Indexes) were hotter than expected. Though the hot 0.4% monthly reading for Core PCE is something to keep an eye on. Was this a one-off or the start of a trend?
What’s the bottom line? The Fed has been working hard to tame inflation, hiking its benchmark Fed Funds Rate (which is the overnight borrowing rate for banks) eleven times between March 2022 and July 2023. These hikes were designed to slow the economy by making borrowing more expensive, lowering the demand for goods, and thereby reducing pricing pressure and inflation.
Inflation has moved lower after peaking in 2022, with the headline reading at 2.4% (down from 7.1%) and the core reading at 2.8% (down from 5.6%). Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stressed that while the Fed is “committed to returning inflation to 2% over time,” Fed members won’t “wait to get to 2% to cut rates.”
The question remains: When will the Fed think inflation has moved low enough for them to start cutting the Fed Funds Rate later this year?