Volume 15, Issue 4 October 2019

Revisions to PCE Inflation Measures: Implications for Monetary Policy

Abstract

This paper examines the characteristics of the revisions to the inflation rate as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index both including and excluding food and energy prices. These data series play a major role in the Federal Reserve's analysis of inflation. We examine the magnitude and patterns of revisions to both PCE inflation rates. We can forecast data revisions in real time from the initial release to the annual revision released in the following year. Policymakers should account for this predictability in setting monetary policy.

Authors

  • Dean Croushore

JEL codes

  • E01
  • E52
  • E37

Other papers in this issue

Maria-Grazia Attinasi and Doris Prammer and Nikolai Stähler and Martino Tasso and Stefan van Parys

Valentina Aprigliano and Guerino Ardizzi and Libero Monteforte

Nils Jannsen and Galina Potjagailo and Maik H. Wolters

Elizabeth Klee and Zeynep Senyuz and Emre Yoldas