The Commerce Department released data on Friday showing the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.1 percent last month and 2.5 percent over last year.
Core PCE, which excludes more volatile food and energy prices, also reached 0.2 percent in June and 2.6 percent year-over-year.
After peaking at a 40-year high in mid-2022, inflation has eased significantly. However, inflation has remained stubbornly above the central bank’s 2 percent target.
The Fed is set to meet next week. It has held interest rates steady at a range of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent for the past year.
At the same time, the labor market still appears to be cooling, fueling hopes of interest rate cuts. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.1 percent in the June jobs report, and the Labor Department made significant downward revisions to April and May’s job gains.
“The agenda that Vice President Harris and I are fighting for has helped us come back strong from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and deliver for working families,” President Biden said Friday, sharing the spotlight with his vice president, who is now the likely Democratic nominee for president.
The Hill’s Julia Shapero has more here.
