A German competitor guzzles a beer at every aid station, though most of the hard-core consumption is committed by a merry group of Indian runners who like to party.
A closely watched inflation gauge, the core personal consumption expenditure deflator, posted its smallest year-over-year gain since February 2004.
Just a quick and dirty calculation: the 10-year rate minus the previous year's core personal consumption expenditure inflation: Rates in the 80s and 90s were actually above historical norms.
The Fed's goal is to achieve the target of 2% inflation in the long-term, and its preferred price index is the core personal consumption expenditure price index that excludes the volatile food and energy sectors (or core PCE for short).
The Fed's favoured price index, the core personal consumption expenditure deflator, which excludes food and fuel, rose by 1.8% in the year to the third quarter.In this section Loss leaders Kings of the wild frontier Another notch down Rate expectations Super-spiked Kahn do Money v mosquito ReprintsThese are all sensible arguments for lower rates.
Over the past 12 months, the core personal consumption expenditure price index has risen 2.4%.
Monday, the core personal consumption expenditure price (PCE) report on inflation will be closely watched for inflation levels, while Tuesday's Institute of Supply Management report and Friday's nonfarm payrolls will be perused for signs of life within the economy.
The Fed closely watches a cumbersome-sounding index, the core personal consumption expenditure deflator, for signs of inflation, and in the last few months, that indicator has dropped within the range Bernanke has been looking for after three years of coming in above his range.
The deflator for core personal-consumption expenditure (PCE), Fed officials' favoured index, was up 2.1% in the year to April.
