What it measures
The PCE price index measures the prices that people in the U.S., or those buying on their behalf, pay for goods and services. The core version leaves out food and energy. The calendar shows the change from the previous month.
It covers more than the CPI, including spending made for households by others, such as medical care paid by employers and government.
Who publishes it and when
The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes it each month in the Personal Income and Outlays report at 08:30 New York time, usually in the last week of the month, for the previous month. Personal income and spending come out in the same report.
How it is put together
BEA builds the index largely from price data that has already been published, including parts of the CPI and the producer price index, combined with its own spending weights. The weights change as spending patterns change, which is one reason PCE inflation often runs a little below CPI inflation.
What traders watch
Because much of its input is already known from the CPI and PPI, economists can estimate it closely in advance, so surprises are usually small. Traders watch the gap between the result and those estimates, and the year-on-year rate against the Fed's 2% goal.
How markets have usually reacted
Moves are often smaller than after the CPI, because less is unknown. A firmer reading has still often supported the dollar and weighed on gold; a softer one has often done the opposite. It can matter more when it lands just before a Federal Reserve meeting.
Common mistakes
- Expecting it to move the market as much as the CPI, and taking larger risk than the usual reaction justifies.
- Forgetting the revisions: earlier months are revised in each report.
How a higher or lower figure is usually read
A higher reading than last month is usually read as supportive for the U.S. dollar; a lower one as negative. Not a signal.
Release history
| Date | Period | Actual | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 0.3% | 0.3% |
Related news
- US Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- US Core CPI
- FOMC Rate Decision (Federal Reserve)
- US Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Economic calendar: every release this week in your time zone
- Lot size calculator: keep your risk the same around news
- How to use an economic calendar: what happens around a release, and how to plan for it
Trading involves a high risk of loss. This page is information and education, not advice or a signal to trade. See the Risk Disclaimer.
Official source
This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Calendar data: fred.stlouisfed.org
Published by U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): www.bea.gov