text: From Mutikani’s screed one would assume that the US Fed targets the American CPI-U series. In fact, it targets the personal consumption expenditure price index (PCEPI), which was updated to June 2017 at the beginning of August. (The poorer timeliness of this series Is one of the drawbacks of its use as compared to the CPI-U.) The PCEPI inflation rate for June was 1.4%, down from 1.5% in May. The core measure most referenced by the US Fed excludes food and energy. The PCEPILFE inflation rate was 1.5% in June, unchanged from 1.5% in May. However, the US Fed also pays attention to a trimmed mean core measure, which has been tracking higher: its annual inflation rate was 1.7% in June, unchanged from May.