Economists Predict December Core PCE Inflation to Remain Stable

According to Odaily, with the release of this week's CPI and PPI data, economists can now accurately forecast the crucial core PCE inflation data for December, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure. Recent predictions indicate that the core PCE price increase for December will be below 0.2%, with early forecasts ranging from 0.16% by Morgan Stanley to 0.19% by Pantheon Macroeconomics. These figures suggest that the annual rate of core PCE inflation will remain at 2.8%, consistent with November's rate. However, the three-month and six-month trends are expected to move in a favorable direction. Sam Tombs, an analyst at Pantheon Macroeconomics, stated, "We still believe that core PCE inflation will slightly decline over the next two months, supporting the FOMC's potential policy easing at the end of March."