Key inflation data on Friday should show some improvement in November, but will likely still emphasize that the Federal Reserve's fight isn't done yet. The central bank's preferred inflation measure remains stubbornly above its 2% annual target -- setting up a slower pace of interest-rate decreases in 2025.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will publish the personal-consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index for November at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday as part of its personal income and outlays report.
Economists' consensus estimate calls for a 0.2% increase in the PCE price index in November, which would match October's pace, according to FactSet. But the rise in the core PCE index, which excludes food and energy components, is expected to slow to 0.2%, after gaining 0.3% in each of the prior two months.