US Economics Weekly Fed to signal higher rates despite soft activity data We expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged at next week’s FOMC meeting but, in what could be characterised as a “hawkish skip”, to signal via forward guidance (updated SEP forecasts and... 9th June 2023 · 8 mins read
US Economics Weekly Debt ceiling deal sealed; Fed to skip June T he debt ceiling standoff ended not with a bang but a whimper – as the bill easily passed the House and Senate with comfortable majorities. Although the prospect of a debt ceiling deal briefly... 2nd June 2023 · 6 mins read
US Economics Weekly Economic growth may have been weaker than thought This week’s upward revision to first-quarter GDP growth, to 1.3% annualised from 1.1%, suggests the economy had marginally more momentum than previously thought. But, in stark contrast, the first... 26th May 2023 · 6 mins read
US Economics Weekly Economic resilience emboldens Fed hawks Recent solid activity data and the apparent progress on debt ceiling negotiations appear to have convinced some Fed officials that it is still too early to pause interest rate hikes. We still aren’t... 19th May 2023 · 8 mins read
US Economics Weekly Sticky core inflation; debt ceiling stand-off continues The April CPI release showed core inflation still remains elevated, but that won't prompt the Fed to resume hiking interest rates when the debt ceiling stand-off looks set to go down to the wire early... 12th May 2023 · 7 mins read
US Economics Weekly Fed pause may not last for long The April employment report showed that while jobs growth remains solid enough, it is still trending lower and the surveys suggest activity growth is slowing too. With ongoing concerns over regional... 5th May 2023 · 6 mins read
US Economics Weekly Q1 GDP growth muted; Q2 will be worse Although underlying activity growth rebounded in the first quarter, while wage and price inflation remained too high, we expect the second quarter to bring a sharper slowdown across the board. 28th April 2023 · 9 mins read
US Economics Weekly May rate hike likely to be the last We now expect the Fed to press ahead with another 25bp rate hike at the FOMC meeting early next month but, with the economic data softening and the risks of a debt ceiling crisis rising, we still... 21st April 2023 · 8 mins read
US Economics Weekly Inflation strong, but activity weakening The strength of the March CPI data may be enough to persuade the Fed to squeeze in a final 25bp rate hike at the early-May FOMC meeting. But with mounting evidence that economic growth is weakening... 14th April 2023 · 5 mins read
US Economics Weekly MMFs: where liquidity goes to die The surge in interest rates over the past 12 months has encouraged an outflow of deposits from the banking system into money market mutual funds but, unfortunately, those funds are not recycling any... 7th April 2023 · 10 mins read
US Economics Weekly Recent strong momentum starts to wane After an unexpectedly strong start to the year in January, which was mostly maintained in February, the March data will tell us whether that early strength was a temporary weather-related spike or a... 31st March 2023 · 8 mins read
US Economics Weekly Fed right to expect economic hit from bank turmoil The Fed will need to wait at least another few weeks for clearer evidence of the impact from the recent banking sector turmoil, but we expect economic weakness will convince officials to move to the... 24th March 2023 · 6 mins read
US Economics Weekly Banking turmoil not (yet) enough to stop Fed hike Although the banking crisis appears to be far from over and new problems could yet emerge over the coming days, we still expect the Fed to push ahead with a 25bp rate hike at the FOMC meeting next... 17th March 2023 · 5 mins read
US Economics Weekly Financial risks could spoil Powell's hawkish plans Despite the strength of payrolls last month, the rest of February's labour market data was more mixed - with the unemployment rate rebounding and a smaller monthly gain in average hourly earnings. The... 10th March 2023 · 9 mins read
US Economics Weekly Powell and payrolls to clarify rate outlook The February employment report and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress next week should give a clearer indication of whether recent talk of interest rates going “higher for longer” is... 3rd March 2023 · 6 mins read
US Economics Weekly Rebound in activity growth likely to be short lived With markets responding to recent strong data by ramping up interest rate expectations, there doesn’t yet seem to be much need for the Fed to embark on a renewed hawkish turn. 24th February 2023 · 7 mins read
