Here's Megan Henney, September 29th :
An inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve ticked higher in August as steep prices continue to squeeze millions of U.S. households.
The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index showed that consumer prices rose 0.4% from the previous month, according to the Labor Department. On an annual basis, prices climbed 3.5% — up from 3.3% recorded the previous month, underscoring the challenge of taming high inflation.
She's referring to PCEPI.
That measure isn't up from 3.3% the previous month. It's up from 3.4%, and 3.2% the month before that.
Jeff Cox at CNBC got it right, same day, as usual:
Including food and energy, headline PCE increased 0.4% on the month and 3.5% from a year ago. Headline inflation has been creeping higher in recent months after hitting 3.2% in June.
Forbes also had it right, because it actually checked the most recent data, which Fox evidently did not:
The most recent PCE price index data was released on September 29, 2023, covering the month of August. The
headline August PCE inflation figure was +3.5% year over year, which
was up slightly from the revised annual rate of +3.4% in July.
