AXIOS (Neil Irwin) - Inflation measurement tweaks make for sunnier data
Changes to the methodology underneath the Federal Reserve's go-to inflation measure are on track to make the numbers look a couple of ticks better later this year. Why it matters: The changes are entirely defensible on technical grounds and should make the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index better able to mirror overall price dynamics over time. - But coming at a fraught moment — when the independence of statistical agencies has been attacked and the Fed has overshot its inflation target for half a decade — the optics aren't great. State of play: The Bureau of Economic Analysis, which calculates the PCE inflation measure, announced late last month the methodological changes to how price changes are calculated in three…