'Sticky Inflation' Appears 'Less Stuck' After November Consumer Price Data, Expert Says

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index came in cooler-than-expected on Friday. PCE inflation growth reached 2.4% in November, up from 2.3% in October, but came in below economist forecasts of 2.5%. 

Expert Ideas: Economists are weighing in on November's cool PCE data and what it could mean for the Federal Reserve and markets heading into 2025. 

"Sticky inflation appeared to be a little less stuck this morning," Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E-Trade Morgan Stanley, told CNBC. 

"The Fed's preferred inflation gauge came in lower than expected, which may take some of the sting out of the market's disappointment with the Fed's interest rate announcement on Wednesday," Larkin said. 

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Markets do appear to be celebrating the report with all major indices in the green. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY), tracking the S&P 500, is up 1.7% at $594.40 and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), tracking the Nasdaq 100 index, is up 1.8% at $523.54 at the time of publication. 

Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US, sees it as "increasingly likely" that the economy accelerated in the current quarter, which would lead to concerns about inflation accelerating and a more hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve. 

"Given the fact that we are almost certain to see an increase in service prices and rents at the turn of the year expect more cautious language at the Fed which clearly thinks policy has shifted into a new phase that is going to focus on price stability over employment in 2025," Brusuelas said. 

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