US February PCE core inflation +2.8% y/y vs +2.8% expected

• Prior month 2.8% (revised to 2.9%)
• PCE core m/m +0.3% vs +0.3% expected (unrounded +0.261%)
• Prior m/m core +0.4% (revised to +0.5%)
• Headline PCE +2.5% y/y vs +2.5% expected (prior 2.4%).
• Headline m/m +0.3% vs +0.4% expected (unrounded +0.333%)
• 6 month core annualized 2.9% vs 2.6% prior
• Full report

Consumer spending and consumer income for February:

• Personal income +0.3% versus +0.4% expected. Prior month 0.3%.
• Personal spending +0.8% versus +0.5% expected. Prior month +0.2%
• Real personal spending +0.4% vs -0.1% last month (revised to -0.2%)

The revisions to the January data are a touch higher but it didn’t bump up the Feb y/y numbers.

Overall, it’s a tad hot but the dollar is a tad softer, perhaps focusing on the lower headline m/m reading.

Looking deeper at spending, goods rose 0.5% with services up 0.9%. On the inflation side, goods prices were down 0.2% y/y while services prices rose 3.8% y/y.