Personal income increased $81.6 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in November, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (tables 2 and 3). Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $71.9 billion (0.4 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $46.7 billion (0.2 percent). The PCE price index decreased 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.1 percent (table 5). Real DPI increased 0.4 percent in November and real PCE increased 0.3 percent; goods increased 0.5 percent and services ... (full story)

The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation fell last month in another sign that price pressures easing in the face of the central bank's interest rate hikes. Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid 0.1% last month from October and rose 2.6% from November 2022. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation last month rose 0.1% from October and 3.2% from a year earlier. All the numbers show somewhat more progress against inflation than economists had expected. After nearly two years of Fed rate hikes — 11 since March 2022 — inflation has come ... (full story)