US: Annual core PCE Price Index rose to 1.6% vs. 1.7% expected

• Annual core PCE inflation in January ticked up to 1.6%.
• Personal Income rose 0.6%, more than market expectation of 0.1%.

The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation, rose to 1.6% in January from 1.5% in December (revised from 1.6%), the data published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis showed on Friday. This reading came in below the market expectation of 1.6%.

On a monthly basis, the core PCE Price Index printed +0.1% to match analysts' estimates. Further details of the publication revealed that Personal Spending in January increased 0.2% and Personal Income rose 0.6% in the same period to surpass experts' forecast of 0.1% by a wide margin.

USD reaction

The US Dollar Index largely ignored these data and was last up 0.12% on the day at 98.50.