Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge tumbles in November as prices continue to ease

The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of prices fell last month, another sign that inflation is easing and that consumers should expect to see lower interest rates in 2024.

Friday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer prices slid 0.1% last month from October and rose 2.6% from November 2022.

The month-over-month drop was the largest since April 2020 when the economy was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The numbers show somewhat more progress against inflation than economists had expected.

Inflation is steadily moving down to the Fed’s year-over-year target of 2% and appears to be clearing the way for Fed rate cuts in 2024.