US Real PCE Flat in September, Missing 0.1% Forecast

The miss matters less for its size than for what it signals: real spending, the inflation-adjusted measure that actually drives activity, stalled heading into the fourth quarter after a strong prior gain. For risk assets, including crypto and tokenized RWA markets, this shifts attention toward whether the consumer slowdown is a one-month pause or the start of a softer trend, and how that feeds into the rate debate. The open question is whether the flat reading is noise or the beginning of a broader deceleration.