The US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index slowed to 3.0% year-over-year in August 2026, down from 3.3% in July, signaling a continued easing in underlying inflation pressures. The data, updated on 30 September 2026, show that price growth in August was 3.0% compared with the same month a year earlier, while July’s 3.3% figure reflected the change versus July 2025.
Core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy components, is closely watched as a key gauge of underlying inflation dynamics. The latest reading marks a further step down from July’s pace, reinforcing the recent disinflation trend on a year-over-year basis and offering evidence that price pressures are gradually cooling compared with 2025 levels.
On a comparison-period basis, the “actual” August figure represents the annual change relative to August of the previous year, while the “previous” July figure shows the annual change against July a year earlier. The shift from 3.3% to 3.0% between July and August underscores a modest but notable softening in core price growth heading into the latter part of 2026.
