News of the Day December 5, 2025
Consumer Inflation Remained Elevated in September

The Commerce Department on Friday reported that the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index rose 0.3% in September from a month ago and is up 2.8% from last year.

Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.8% year over year.

Federal Reserve policymakers are focusing on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation. Headline PCE was flat at 2.8% from August to September, while core PCE declined slightly from 2.9% to 2.8%.

Prices for goods were up 1.4% in September from a year ago, an acceleration from the 0.9% reading in August and the 0.6% readings reported in both June and July.

Durable goods were up 0.9% from a year ago in September, a slight deceleration from the 1.2% reading in August. Nondurable goods price growth accelerated in September, rising 1.7% compared with last year following a 0.7% reading in August.

Services prices were up 3.4% in September from a year ago, slightly cooler than the 3.6% reported in August.