Core inflation in the US ran the fastest in nearly two years to start 2026, delayed data released on Friday showed.

The BEA, which is still catching up from last quarter’s record-long US government shutdown, said underlying price growth on the Fed’s preferred measure was 3.1% in January, the briskest since March of 2024.

The MoM core print, at 0.4% (+0.363% unrounded), was the fastest monthly pace since February of last year.

Headline PCE printed a 0.275% unrounded gain and rose 2.8% from the same month a year ago, slightly cooler than expected.

Markets will probably take the core heater in stride because i) it can plausibly be written off to a post-pandemic seasonal that tends to manifest in early-year overshoots, and ii) Tuesday’s CPI report for February was relatively benign.

Still, the optics aren’t great: Core inflation on the measure favored by the Fed hit a two-year high ahead of a historic oil supply shock which, at least in the near-term, has the potential to push up headline inflation.

The rest of the January personal income and consumption data was broadly in-line. Nominal spending rose 0.4%, better than expected, while inflation-adjusted spending managed a small gain against expectations for no change.