By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation accelerated slightly as expected in December compared to the prior month, according to data from the Commerce Department on Friday.
The core personal consumption expenditure price index, which strips out volatile items like food and energy, ticked up to 0.3% from 0.2% in November, in line with economists’ estimates.
Meanwhile, the annual rate moved down to 4.4%, slowing from 4.7% and also meeting expectations. However, this figure remains well above the Fed’s 2% target for price increases.