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-2020 | Jan-2021 | Feb-2021 | Mar-2021 | Apr-2021 | May-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median PCE Inflation | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| PCE Inflation | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Core PCE Inflation | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Percent change, past 12 months
| Date | Dec-2020 | Jan-2021 | Feb-2021 | Mar-2021 | Apr-2021 | May-2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median PCE Inflation | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| PCE Inflation | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 3.9 |
| Core PCE Inflation | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 3.4 |