The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked up in November in the latest sign that prices remain stubbornly elevated.

Consumer prices rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from a 2.7% annual pace in October.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories in the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, core prices also increased 2.8% in November from a year ago, slightly higher than October’s 2.7%.

Inflation has fallen sharply from a four-decade high in 2022 but has mostly leveled off in the past two years.

Still, on a monthly basis prices were milder: Both overall inflation and core inflation moved up just 0.2% in November from October.

At that pace, over time inflation would move closer to the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Thursday’s data was delayed by the six-week government shutdown last fall.

Also on Thursday, the government said that the economy expanded at a healthy 4.4% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the fastest growth in two years.