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National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) Table 2.8.4 · Price index for PCE excluding food and energy, monthly

What is the core PCE price index?

The core PCE price index was 130.902 in the month ended , up 3.1% from a year earlier.

Core PCE price index, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1959 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Core PCE price index, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1959 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Core PCE price index, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Core PCE price index, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Core PCE price index, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1959 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Core PCE price index, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1959 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Core PCE price index, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Core PCE price index, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Core PCE price index130.902130.489126.940109.54898.834
Change over a year+3.1%+3.0%+2.8%+3.9%+1.7%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The core PCE price index was 130.902 in September 2026, the highest since our record begins in January 1959.

Over a year it is up 3.1% (ours).

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month130.489 in +0.3%
Three months129.969 in +0.7%
Twelve months126.940 in +3.1%
Five years109.548 in +19.5%
Ten years98.834 in +32.4%

In historyOurs

The core PCE price index of 130.902 in was higher than in 812 of the 812 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 0.

Highest since : 130.902 in . Lowest since : 15.501 in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 61.8908 (ours, a plain mean of the 813 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the core PCE price index is up 3.1%, which ranks 7 of the 9 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the core PCE price index beside the PCE price indexes by type of product, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Understanding the core PCE price index

Where it stands today

The core PCE price index was 130.902 in September 2026.

What does the core PCE price index measure?

The core PCE price index is the price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) excluding food and energy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes it each month with personal income and outlays, next to the headline index, which includes food and energy.

Read more

Food and energy prices move with harvests, weather and oil markets, so a measure without them is often used for the underlying pace of prices. The index is a chain-type index, seasonally adjusted, and set to 100 in BEA's reference year.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, and its rank among the PCE price indexes by type on the hub page.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the core PCE price index in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1959
Core PCE price index, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Index, reference year = 100; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
130.902+3.1%
130.489+3.0%
130.148+3.0%
129.969+3.0%
129.796+3.2%
129.395+3.1%
129.030+3.1%
128.701+3.0%
128.270+2.9%
127.765+2.9%
127.363+2.7%
127.165+2.7%
126.940+2.8%
126.646+2.9%
126.363+2.8%
126.133+2.8%
125.818+2.8%
125.524+2.7%
125.144+2.6%
125.002+2.8%
124.609+2.8%
124.198+2.9%
123.989+2.9%
123.816+2.9%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
123.462+2.8%
123.135+2.9%
122.872+2.8%
122.667+2.8%
122.406+2.8%
122.252+3.0%
122.016+3.1%
121.570+3.2%
121.201+3.2%
120.694+3.2%
120.525+3.4%
120.321+3.6%
120.053+3.7%
119.662+3.8%
119.515+4.2%
119.350+4.4%
119.061+4.8%
118.671+4.9%
118.295+4.9%
117.825+4.9%
117.415+5.0%
116.923+5.1%
116.520+5.3%
116.186+5.5%
115.727+5.6%
115.248+5.4%
114.658+5.2%
114.273+5.3%
113.571+5.2%
113.178+5.3%
112.807+5.6%
112.362+5.6%
111.822+5.3%
111.280+5.1%
110.671+4.8%
110.119+4.4%
109.548+3.9%
109.340+3.9%
108.971+3.8%
108.522+3.8%
107.989+3.4%
107.493+3.1%
106.865+2.1%
106.435+1.6%
106.168+1.6%
105.896+1.5%
105.605+1.5%
105.507+1.4%
105.410+1.5%
105.243+1.4%
104.937+1.2%
104.565+1.0%
104.402+1.0%
104.293+1.0%
104.632+1.5%
104.711+1.7%
104.507+1.6%
104.322+1.5%
104.092+1.5%
104.028+1.6%
103.873+1.6%
103.797+1.7%
103.678+1.6%
103.560+1.7%
103.371+1.6%
103.265+1.6%
103.058+1.6%
102.963+1.7%
102.870+1.8%
102.735+2.0%
102.556+2.0%
102.366+1.9%
102.205+2.0%
102.016+1.9%
102.006+2.0%
101.872+1.9%
101.780+2.0%
101.602+1.9%
101.419+1.9%
101.198+1.6%
101.007+1.6%
100.683+1.6%
100.535+1.5%
100.486+1.5%
100.240+1.4%
100.118+1.4%
100.010+1.5%
99.937+1.6%
99.803+1.5%
99.723+1.6%
99.519+1.7%
99.561+1.9%
99.385+1.9%
99.120+1.8%
99.005+1.7%
98.961+1.8%
How does it compare with the PCE price indexes by type of product?Ranked by the change over a year
Core PCE price index beside the PCE price indexes by type of product, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Energy165.088+21.3%1
Nondurable goods126.601+4.5%2
Goods120.731+3.9%3
PCE price index132.257+3.6%4
Services137.932+3.5%5
Housing and utilities146.082+3.3%6
Core PCE price index130.902+3.1%7
Durable goods110.405+2.9%8
Food and beverages at home132.145+1.5%9

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • BEA revises each month in the releases that follow and revises past years in its annual updates. This page shows the newest estimate of every month, so an earlier month can differ from the figure first published.
  • The index leaves out food and energy only; it keeps housing, health care and the other services and goods. The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BEA publishes; BEA's own percent changes are worked out from unrounded values and can differ by 0.1.
  • The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values BEA publishes; a change is in percent.
  • This product uses the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Data API but is not endorsed or certified by BEA.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, Price index for PCE excluding food and energy, monthly, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "What is the core PCE price index?", https://500metrics.com/pce-price-index/core.

Can the data be downloaded?pce-price-index-core.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 813 rows, to , 15,553 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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