Inflation Slowed, but Holiday Spending Didn’t Keep Up

Inflation is slowing, but consumers aren’t spending as much as hoped this holiday season, data showed Friday.

The core personal-consumption expenditures price index, or PCE deflator, was up 0.2% in November and 4.7% from a year ago, in line with what economists had forecast, according to FactSet. That compares with a 5% year-over-year rise in October. The index is the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation.