Inflation cooled and consumer spending — especially on automobiles — surged in March as households made purchases ahead of a raft of new tariffs from the Trump administration.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index held steady from February to March while dropping to an annual increase of 2.3 percent from 2.7 percent in February, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Excluding the more volatile categories of food and energy, “core” PCE prices fell to a 2.6 percent annual increase in March from 3.0 percent in........

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