Inflation rose in line with expectations for January. The personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy costs increased 0.4% for the month of January and up 2.8% from a year ago. This was in line with the analysts’ expectations. When factoring in the more volatile prices of food and energy, the PCE increased 0.3% for the month and 2.4% year over year. This also came in on target with expectations. When examining the measures in the index, service prices increased 0.6% on the month, while the cost of goods fell 0.2%. Services rose 3.9% on an annual basis, and goods were down 0.5%. Energy was down the most, coming down 4.9% from a year ago. The Fed will use these key data points when continuing their discussions on when they may begin lowering interest rates. Many analysts are now expecting them to keep rates higher for longer.