Inflation picked up again in May, snapping a two-month slowdown, raising fresh concerns that rising tariffs on foreign goods may start to strain U.S. consumers.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.3% in May from a year earlier, matching economists’ expectations and marking a slight uptick from April’s upwardly revised 2.2%.
On a monthly basis, the PCE increased 0.1%, in line with consensus and unchanged from April.
Yet, the core PCE index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is closely monitored by Fed policymakers as the most reliable inflation metric, accelerated to 2.7% year-over-year from the upwardly revised 2.6% in April, exceeding the …