core inflation

noun

economics
: a measure of inflation that excludes items having volatile prices (such as fuel and food) from the price index being used
The Federal Reserve's past emphasis on core inflation, which strips food and energy from the price indexes in order to gauge the underlying trend of prices, has always confused both Wall Street and Main Street.James C. Cooper
compare headline inflation

Examples of core inflation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Consumer spending and house sales were also down in January, writes Forbes senior contributor Simon Moore, even though core inflation was at a seven-month low of 2.5%. Megan Poinski, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025 On an annual basis, core inflation rose to 3.3 percent, up from 3.2 percent the previous month and exceeding market expectations of 3.1 percent. Hannah Parry, Newsweek, 12 Feb. 2025 The war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions alone cannot explain what happened in the United States, where core inflation, which excludes food and energy, reached a peak of nearly seven percent in mid-2022. Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs, 10 Feb. 2025 Inflation risks In a quarterly outlook report, the board raised its price forecasts to project core inflation moving at or above its 2% target for three straight years. Reuters, CNN, 24 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for core inflation

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of core inflation was in 1979

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Cite this Entry

“Core inflation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/core%20inflation. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.

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