US Economics Update GDP growth will benefit from oil price rebound The recent rally in oil prices is a positive for the US economy insofar as it confirms that the drag from falling mining investment will fade by the second half of the year. And with households having... 6th June 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Apr.) The robust growth in bank loans and the monetary aggregates is another reason to believe that second-quarter GDP growth will rebound markedly. The growth rate of our M3 measure accelerated to 4.0% in... 31st May 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update NFIB & JOLT surveys reveal no labour market deterioration The latest NFIB and JOLT surveys suggest that, contrary to the already reported slowdown in the pace of monthly payroll gains in April, labour market slack is still shrinking. That should eventually... 10th May 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Is the worst now over for the manufacturing sector? While the drag on GDP growth from the manufacturing slump may fade in the second half of this year, the sector is unlikely to make any major positive contribution to the economy for some time yet... 5th May 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Mar.) Although the annual growth rate of our own M3 measure was a still muted 3.8% in March, the strength of M2 growth, at 6.2%, and bank loan growth, at 7.8%, underscores that there is nothing in the... 4th May 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update SLOS shows contrast between business and consumer lending The Fed’s latest Senior Loan Officer Survey (SLOS) underscores that business investment is likely to remain muted for some time yet. In contrast, the consumer outlook is encouraging. 2nd May 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed less worried by global risks; open to June rate hike As universally expected, the FOMC kept the fed funds target range unchanged at between 0.25% and 0.50% today, but left the door open to a second 25 basis point rate hike in June. With core inflation... 27th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Surge in net external debt a long-term negative for dollar Although the current account deficit remains well below the peak reached in 2006, net external debt has soared to more than 40% of GDP, up from only 10% a decade ago. The external debt burden is still... 27th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Will further Fed hikes trigger a renewed surge in the dollar? Although we expect the Fed to raise interest rates faster than most anticipate over the next two years, the resulting appreciation of the dollar should be much more modest than last year. Following a... 20th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Will the Fed let inflation overshoot? Inflation is going to overshoot the Fed’s 2% target, let’s be clear. While we expect Fed officials to be fairly relaxed about that, however, we don’t think it means interest rates won’t rise at all... 19th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update We need to talk about Q1 GDP growth Thanks to a markedly weaker gain in consumption than we were previously expecting, it now appears that first-quarter GDP growth was no more than 1% annualised. Following on from the 1.4% gain in the... 7th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Strength of low-paid hiring may be holding down average wages The recent weakness of wage growth over the past few months is partly explained by a deterioration in the quality of jobs being created, which is also reflected in a surge in low-skilled labour force... 7th April 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Will the participation rate continue to rebound? The recent surge in labour force participation has been concentrated among low-skilled workers, which may be artificially depressing average hourly earnings. But with this trend unlikely to last and... 31st March 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Feb.) We are not overly concerned by the slowdown in the annual growth rate of our broad M3 money measure to a five-year low of 3.5% in February, particularly not when bank loans are still expanding at more... 30th March 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Does the decline in profits mean a recession is coming? The 11.5% decline in corporate profits last year, which included a 7.8% decline in the fourth quarter alone, doesn’t necessarily mean that a recession is imminent. Admittedly, profits usually begin to... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed dovish today, but should turn more hawkish later The Fed opted to leave its key policy rate unchanged at 0.25% to 0.50% today, while also lowering its projections for the pace of future rate hikes. Nevertheless, as inflation continues to rise and... 16th March 2016 · 1 min read
