Feds Key Inflation Measure Cools, Personal Incomes Top Estimates

Shoppers on Black Friday at a mall in Bethesda, Md., on Nov. 28, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch TimesThe Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge cooled unexpectedly in September while Americans’ incomes outpaced economists’ forecasts.Inflation in the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index—excluding volatile food and energy—slipped to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent in August, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Dec. 5. Economists had expected the measure to hold at 2.9 percent.