The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, a key gauge of inflation watched closely by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.2% month-over-month in July 2026, reversing a decline seen in the prior month. In June 2026, the PCE index had slipped by 0.1% compared with May, underscoring a brief period of price softness before the latest rebound.
The July reading, updated on 26 August 2026, reflects a return to positive monthly price growth after that contraction. On a month-over-month comparison, the “actual” figure for July measures the change relative to June, while the “previous” figure captures June’s change relative to May. The shift from -0.1% to 0.2% suggests that consumer prices regained some upward momentum as the summer progressed, a development likely to feed into ongoing debates over the trajectory of U.S. inflation and monetary policy.