The Commerce Department on Thursday released its report on U.S. personal income and spending in the month of September, which includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred readings on consumer price inflation.
The report said the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.2 percent in September after inching up by 0.1 percent in August. The modest increase matched economist estimates.
The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index slowed to 2.1 percent in September from 2.3 percent in August, which was also in line with expectations.
The Commerce Department also said the core PCE price index, which excludes food and energy prices, climbed by 0.3 percent in September after rising by 0.2 percent in August. The increase was also in line with estimates.
Meanwhile, the annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index in September was unchanged from the previous month at 2.7 percent, while economists had expected the pace of growth to slow to 2.6 percent.
The report also said personal income increased by 0.3 percent in September after rising by 0.2 percent in August. The growth matched economist estimates.
Personal spending grew by 0.5 percent in September after climbing by 0.3 percent in August. Spending was expected to rise by 0.4 percent.
With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department also released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decline by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 26th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 216,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 228,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting a matching figure in the week ended May 18th.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 236,500, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 238,750.
At 9:45 am ET, MNI Indicators is scheduled to release its report on Chicago-area business activity in the month of October. The Chicago business barometer is expected to inch up to 47.0 in October from 46.6 in September, but a reading below 50 would still indicate contraction.