October's increase in the core PCE (personal consumption expenditure) price index is expected to hang out at +0.3% month-over-month, the same as in September, according to economists' consensus. It highlights the difficulty in wringing the last bit of disinflation out of the current inflation rate to bring it down to the Federal Reserve's 2% goal.

Federal Reserve officials discussed potentially slowing down or pausing interest-rate cuts if progress on lowering inflation stalled out when they met earlier this month. Officials thought that if the economy performed in line with their expectations that inflation would continue to decline steadily,

Several policymakers said they were less worried about an economic slowdown than they had been in September, when the Fed kicked off its rate-cutting cycle.

Key Takeaways Inflation as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures likely reaccelerated in October, according to forecasts of the report due Wednesday.Housing has kept overall inflation elevated even though other things have fallen back to pre-pandemic inflation rates.