The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index – the gauge used by the Federal Reserve for its target inflation rate – dropped 0.1% from May, bringing the annual rate to 3.7% from 4.1%, Commerce Department data showed. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending rose 0.4% last month, matching an 11-month high, according to new data released Thursday by the Commerce Department. Energy prices are often choppy, as are food prices, so economists and policymakers closely watch “core” inflation measurements that exclude more volatile components. When stripping out energy and food prices, the “core” PCE index rose 0.1% on a monthly basis and was up 3.3% from a year ago. When adjusting for inflation, spending was up 0.4%.