The U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Wednesday that, according to the Federal Reserve's primary inflation measure, the year-on-year increase in consumer prices was lower than expected.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index ( PCE ) rose by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the current month, bringing the 12-month increase to 3.4%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones previously expected increases of 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively.

Excluding food and energy, the core PCE rose by 0.2%, bringing the annual core inflation rate to 3.0%. The corresponding forecasts were 0.3% and 3.3% respectively.

Although the Federal Reserve officially tracks the overall PCE data, officials generally believe that core indicators are more reflective of long-term trends.

However, despite the annual increase being lower than expected, this result comes after the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) adjusted the calculation methods for several components of the index. It is still unclear what impact these revisions have had on the final figures.

This is breaking news, and updates will follow.