The Commerce Department on Friday will release the February reading for the personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Federal Reserve considers its most important inflation measure.
CNBC TV will have special coverage starting at 8:15 a.m. ET that you can only watch here. The PCE data is released at 8:30 a.m. ET.
CNBC will analyze the numbers and what it means for markets Monday. U.S. financial markets are closed Friday for Good Friday.
Excluding food and energy, the core index was expected to rise 0.3% in February and 2.8% from a year ago, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate, after respectively rising 0.4% and 2.8% in January. For the main number, the respective estimates are 0.4% and 2.5%, compared to 0.3% and 2.4%.
While the Fed looks at both numbers, it considers core a more reliable indicator of longer-term inflation trends.
Along with the PCE numbers, the department will release the figures for personal income and consumer spending. They are expected to show respective increases of 0.4% and 0.5%.
