Key Takeaways A key report on inflation on Friday is expected to show consumer prices rose 2.7% over the year in August, up from a 2.6% annual increase in July. A report on inflation this week could serve as a reminder that the Federal Reserve's battle against inflation is far from won despite the central bank's recent rate cut. That would be up from a 2.6% annual increase in July, and the fourth month in a row the key inflation measure has accelerated. The Fed uses core inflation as its benchmark for judging whether inflation is running at its target of a 2% annual rate. Some measures of inflation that figure into the PCE calculations, such as wholesale prices, were smaller than expected for August, suggesting a tamer though still elevated PCE inflation rate.