The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure moved up in October, with core prices climbing 2.8 percent over the past year, underscoring the lingering challenge of stubborn inflation despite months of cooling trends.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, which tracks changes in the cost of goods and services, rose 0.2 percent for the month. Stripping out volatile food and energy costs, the core index increased by 0.3 percent in October. Over the past 12 months, the overall index is up 2.3 percent, higher than the 2.1 percent year-over-year gain recorded in September.
These figures were in line with expectations, as economists had anticipated the 2.8 percent annual rise in core inflation, given the relatively predictable nature of the metric, which draws on earlier data releases.
The persistence of core inflation near 3 percent complicates the Federal…
