text:  Because the price of a product doesn't then go down. The price of a product is up, up 9%, up 6%, then on top of that 3.4%. That's why you're seeing these prices. The personal consumption expenditure price index is used by the Fed as the yardstick for its 2% inflation target. It inherited 1.4%. The upward revision indicates that the surge of inflation as 2024 began was even worse than previously thought.