The Fed’s favoured measure of inflation – core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices – is creeping higher again, and several alternative gauges of retail prices also show some heat building as 2026 is getting underway. Not only is 3% core inflation a full point above the Fed’s inflation target, but it’s going in the wrong direction. According to UBS, online retail prices captured by Adobe’s Digital Price Index rose in January by the most in the series’ 12-year history. UBS economist Alan Detmeister also pointed out that the online price index led a similar basket of the consumer price index both up and down during the pandemic period and thus bears close watching. What’s more, US businesses are also seeing input price growth pick up pace this year.

Source: The Star February 05, 2026 23:38 UTC