Inflation Persists at Higher-Than-Expected Pace in March PCE Data Reveals Can you please provide some insights into why inflation remains stubbornly high despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat it? Also, how does this persistent rate of price growth affect individuals and businesses in their day-to-day operations? Please summarize your analysis briefly.

In March, inflation continued to hold stubbornly high as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index. The annual rate of increase hit 2.7%, surpassing forecasts for a gain of 2.6% and exceeding February’s reading of 2.5%. On a monthly basis, prices rose at an unchanged pace of 0.3%, identical to the figure recorded in February. While some economists prefer using the Consumer Price Index as their measure of inflation levels, the Federal Reserve targets price growth through PCE. After removing volatile food and energy categories from the calculation, the “core” PCE index stayed at its prior rate of 2.8%. Moreover, consumer expenditures remained strong in March with a jump of 0.8% compared to February’s expected gain of only 0.5%. This story is still developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.