Fed's favored inflation gauge shows consumer prices remained elevated in September

Core Inflation Data - The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, rose 0.3% in September from the previous month and is up 2.8% year over year, aligning with LSEG economists' estimates [1] - Core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by 0.2% month over month and 2.8% year over year, with monthly figures meeting expectations while the year-over-year figure was slightly lower [2] Federal Reserve Focus - Federal Reserve policymakers are concentrating on the PCE headline figure to bring inflation back to their long-term target of 2%, although they consider core data a better inflation indicator [3] - The headline PCE remained flat at 2.8% from August to September, while core PCE slightly decreased from 2.9% to 2.8% [3] Price Trends - Prices for goods increased by 1.4% in September compared to a year ago, accelerating from 0.9% in August and 0.6% in both June and July [4] - Durable goods prices rose by 0.9% year over year in September, showing a slight deceleration from 1.2% in August, while nondurable goods price growth accelerated to 1.7% in September from 0.7% in August [4] Data Release Context - The release of September data was delayed due to a 43-day federal government shutdown, marking the longest in U.S. history [5]