The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the core PCE price index, rose 2.8% year-over-year in November. This was consistent with the forecast and a slight pickup from October's 2.7% reading. On a monthly basis, the core index was up 0.2%, as expected.

US consumers probably experienced only a modest pickup in inflation as 2025 drew to a close, consistent with price pressures that are gradually abating.

“Construction input prices surged in November,” said Associated Builders and Contractors' Chief Economist Anirban Basu in a statement. “While [3.4% is] a relatively modest annual increase, it’s also the largest since January 2023 and the trend offers plenty of cause for concern."

The National Retail Federation is predicting retail sales in November and December grew between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2024. That translates to total spending between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion. By comparison, holiday sales for 2024 rose 4.3% over 2023 to reach $976.1 billion.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.2% in November from October and 3% from a year earlier.

Inflation eased its grip on the American consumer in November, with prices rising 2.7% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said in a Dec. 18 report. The annual inflation rate had crept as high as 3% in September. The slightly lower rate for ...