Median PCE Inflation
- Description: We calculate the median PCE inflation rate based on data released in the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ monthly Personal Income and Outlays report.
- Median PCE inflation is the one-month inflation rate of the component whose expenditure weight is in the 50th percentile of price changes.
- Benefits: By omitting outliers (small and large price changes) and focusing on the interior of the distribution of price changes, the median PCE inflation rate can provide a better signal of the underlying inflation trend than either the all-items PCE price index or the PCE price index excluding food and energy (also known as the core PCE price index).
Percent change from previous month
| Date | Dec-2019 | Jan-2020 | Feb-2020 | Mar-2020 | Apr-2020 | May-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median PCE Inflation | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| PCE Inflation | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.5 | 0.1 |
| Core PCE Inflation | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | -0.1 | -0.4 | 0.1 |
Percent change, past 12 months
| Date | Dec-2019 | Jan-2020 | Feb-2020 | Mar-2020 | Apr-2020 | May-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median PCE Inflation | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| PCE Inflation | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Core PCE Inflation | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1 | 1 |