Personal Consumption Expenditures - PCE

A measure of price changes in consumer goods and services. It consists of the actual and imputed expenditures of households and includes data pertaining to durables, non-durables, and services. It is essentially a measure of goods and services targeted towards individuals and consumed by individuals.

Also referred to as "consumption."

Investopedia Commentary

Similar to the consumer price index (CPI), PCE is a report (actually a part of the personal income report) put out by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.

There are two broad indexes of consumer prices in the United States: the CPI and the chain price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCEPI). They are similar in many respects, but there are some important differences which can lead to large gaps between CPI and PCEPI inflation rates at times. The PCEPI uses a chain index which takes into account consumers' changing consumption due to prices, while the CPI uses a fixed basket of goods with weightings that do not change over time.

The PCE is a fairly predictable report that has little impact on the markets.

Related Links

Economic Indicators to Know
All about Inflation Tutorial
Why the CPI Is a Friend to Investors

See also: Consumer Price Index - CPI, Deflation, Indicator, Inflation, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Producer Price Index - PPI, Retail Price Index - RPI

Also spelled: PCE, PCEPIPCE, PCEPI