Fed's favored inflation gauge showed prices pulled back in June

close video Market sell-off accelerates as inflation fears rattle investors A panel discusses the weeks market selloff, driven by inflation fears, rising oil prices and disappointing Big Tech earnings on Barrons Roundtable. This story about the June 2026 PCE inflation report will be updated with more details. The Federal Reserve's preferred  inflation gauge fell in June, as the pace of price growth pulled back amid volatility in energy markets. The Commerce Department on Thursday reported that the  personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index declined 0.1% on a monthly basis in June and was up 3.7% from a year ago. Both figures were in line with the expectations of economists polled by LSEG. Core PCE, which excludes volatile measurements of food and energy prices, was up 0.1% on a monthly basis and 3.3% from a year ago. The monthly figure was cooler than the 0.2% predicted by the LSEG poll of economists, while the annual figure was in line with expectations. Federal Reserve policymakers are focused on the PCE headline figure as they try to bring inflation back to their long-run target of 2%, though they view core data as a better indicator of inflation. Compared with May's readings, headline PCE declined from 4.1% to 3.7%, while core PCE fell from 3.4% to 3.3%.