The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge unexpectedly climbed in April, leading to concerns that the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates for the 11th straight month in June.
In April, the annual personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index rose to 4.4 percent, up from 4.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). On a month-over-month basis, the headline PCE price index rose 0.4 percent, up from 0.1 percent in the previous month.
The core PCE, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, edged up to 4.7 percent year-over-year, up from 4.6 percent. This was also above the consensus estimate of 4.6 percent. Core PCE also increased by 0.4 percent from March to April, up from 0.3 percent….