Gas prices are displayed at a Sunoco gas station after the inflation rate hit a 40-year high in January, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. February 19, 2022.
Gas prices are displayed at a Sunoco gas station after the inflation rate hit a 40-year high in January, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. February 19, 2022. Reuters / HANNAH BEIER

A core inflation metric preferred by the Federal Reserve saw a steep rise on Friday, according to the Commerce Department. The figure could prove particularly influential as the Fed is expected to announce an interest-rate hike.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index showed that the price of goods rose 1.5% and services by 4.3% in January. The measure showed that headline inflation was 6.1% in the last year, the highest since February 1982 when it reached 6.2%.

Inflation reached 0.6% for the month of January.

Consumer spending in January was up by 2.1%, reversing the 0.8% decline in December.

Americans are feeling the weight of inflation as it cuts into their optimism about the state of the economy.

Rising inflation is spurring the Fed to take a more hawkish stance to address it. In March, the central bank is expected to hike interest rates by a quarter to a half percentage point.

Last month, economists anticipated three likely rate hikes in 2022, a year ahead of when the Fed initially expected to begin raising them.

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