A key inflation indicator rose 3.1 percent in April from a year ago as costs continued to grow in the US economy just as it’s mounting a comeback from the pandemic, the feds said Friday.
It is the most since July 1992 that the core personal consumption expenditures index has risen over 12 months.
The so-called core PCE index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.7 percent from March, the highest month-over-month rise since October 2001, the Commerce Department reported.
The index tracks prices across a variety of goods and services and is considered a broader measure for inflation than the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, which rose 4.2 percent in April from a year ago.
Including food and energy, which are more volatile than other goods, the Commerce Department’s index jumped 3.6 percent from a year ago and 0.6 percent from March.
Anu Gaggar, senior global investment analyst for Commonwealth Financial Network, noted that the big year-over-year numbers are likely warped because at this time last year the pandemic shuttered large swaths of society, driving prices down.
The PCE index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.7 percent from March.Alamy Stock Photo
She added that some of the price
