According to CNBC, recent data on inflation, including a producer-price index (PPI) that remained unchanged from September, indicates that the Federal Reserve is close to reaching its 2% target for inflation. This comes after the consumer price index dropped to 2.4%, marking its lowest increase since February of this year.
In fact, CNBC reports that the Fed may have already reached their goal. On Friday, Goldman Sachs economists predicted that when released later this month, the personal consumption expenditures price index for September will show a 12-month inflation rate of 2.04%.
If Goldman’s projection holds true and gets rounded down to 2%, it would align with the Fed’s long-standing objective – just over two years after experiencing a spike in inflation rates which led to significant interest rate hikes.
CNBC notes that while there are various factors taken into consideration by the Fed when making decisions regarding inflation rates, they primarily rely on PCE as their preferred measure of tracking it.
