Moreover, core PCE inflation--a better indicator of the underlying inflation trend--picked up 1/4 percentage point, to a little over 1-1/2 percent. This rise in inflation was anticipated and largely represents a fading of the effects of earlier declines in energy prices and the prices of non-energy imports.
In addition, slack in labor and product markets is no longer placing downward pressure on inflation, in contrast to the situation only a few years ago when the unemployment rate was still quite elevated.