STORY: U.S. Fed's closely watched inflation measure rises 2.6 pct in December
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 22, 2024/file
DATELINE: Jan. 27, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:41
LOCATION: Washington D.C.
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of exterior of the U.S. Department of Commerce (file)
2. various of street views of U.S. state of New Hampshire
3. SOUNDBITE (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter in Dixvill Notch, New Hampshire

STORYLINE:

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 2.6 percent in December, as inflation cooled amid high interest rates, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

The latest figure came after the measure in September accelerated to 3.4 percent year on year from 3.3 percent in August, before slowing to 2.9 percent in October and then to 2.6 percent in November, according to estimates released by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The PCE gauge takes into account how consumers change their behavior in light of higher prices and is a broader measure of consumer behavior than the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The so-called core PCE price index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.9 percent in December from a year ago, down from 3.4 percent in October and 3.2 percent in November, but still well above the Fed's inflation target of 2 percent.

Twelve-month core PCE inflation peaked at 5.6 percent in February 2022.

At its latest policy meeting in December 2023, the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged at a 22-year high of 5.25 percent to 5.5 percent as inflation continued to cool, signaling an end to its rate hiking cycle and possible rate cuts in the coming year.

For Leslie Otten, a voter in Dixville Notch, a remote community in the northeastern U.S. state of New Hampshire, one of the things he cares about most in this election year is the continued effects of inflation.

SOUNDBITE (English): LESLIE OTTEN, Voter in Dixvill Notch, New Hampshire
"Two things that I care about the most are the immigration issue that faces the country, and the effects of inflation. Even though inflation is decreasing and declining now, the effects of that are going to be with us for a long time."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Washington D.C.
(XHTV)