Filtered by Subscriptions: US Economics Use setting US Economics
The reversal of weather- and strike-related disruptions leave us anticipating a 190,000 rise in nonfarm payrolls in November. We expect the unemployment rate to be unchanged at 4.1%, while wage growth should tick down to 3.9%. Hurricane and strike effects …
27th November 2024
Trump tosses first social media hand grenade Here we go again. This week President-elect Donald Trump lobbed his first social media hand grenade since the election – threatening to impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico if both countries didn’t do more …
Another above-target-consistent rise in core PCE prices The 0.27% m/m rise in the core PCE deflator in October was a little lower than we feared based on the earlier CPI and PPI data, but still confirms that prices rose at an above-target rate for the …
Economy remains resilient October’s income and spending data, due at 10am ET today, could also affect our estimate but, for now, the big drop back in goods imports in October means that we have forth-quarter GDP growth tracking at 2.7%, up from 2.2%, …
Fed slows pace of rate cuts The minutes of the Fed’s early-November FOMC meeting, when it slowed the pace of policy loosening with a smaller 25bp cut, tell us little about whether to expect another smaller quarter-point cut at the upcoming policy meeting …
26th November 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s first threatened tariffs since the election are designed to extract concessions on drug trafficking and illegal border crossings, which means it may be possible for the countries targeted – Canada, Mexico and China – to head …
We discussed the global impact of higher tariffs in a Drop-In on Tuesday, 26th November. Click here to watch the 20-minute online briefing. In this Focus, we construct a framework to explore the channels through which an import tariff works, which we use …
25th November 2024
Residential construction employment has been performing much better than the slump in construction over the past year might have implied. We suspect that is because job losses in the new home construction sector have been concentrated among undocumented …
Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding what policies president-elect Donald Trump will enact during his second term, there is a temptation to read a lot into his Cabinet nominations, but we would caution against that. Following his comprehensive …
We remain sceptical that deregulation will provide a disinflationary boost to the economy’s supply side and we suspect that any reduction in government spending or headcount would turn out to be modest. Libertarian-minded Republicans have long-believed …
22nd November 2024
Our senior economists hosted an online briefing to discuss the final Fed, ECB and Bank of England decisions of 2024. During the session they highlighted key takeaways from the latest communications and addressed key issues, including: What inflation and …
19th November 2024
In response to Donald Trump’s election win and the likelihood that his policies will be inflationary, we have revised up our forecast for the terminal fed funds target range in 2025 by 50bp, to between 3.50% and 3.75%. There are, if anything, still some …
18th November 2024
Road to 2% inflation a bumpy one The hotter-than-expected October price data serve as a reminder that the Fed’s fight against inflation is not over. Based on the CPI, PPI and import price data, we estimate that the Fed’s preferred core PCE deflator price …
15th November 2024
Temporary disruptions weigh on production again The fall in manufacturing output in October was driven mainly by temporary disruptions which should soon reverse. Excluding these disruptions, industrial production would have remained unchanged, suggesting …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Underlying sales growth slowing to a more sustainable pace While October’s retail sales data showed underlying weakness and were accompanied by sizable revisions to previous …
PPI points to another above-target-consistent rise in core PCE The price data released this week suggest that inflationary pressures are proving stronger than the Fed anticipated. Based on the combined CPI and PPI data, we calculate that the Fed’s …
14th November 2024
CPI points to target-consistent gain in core PCE The third consecutive 0.3% m/m gain in the core CPI in October is somewhat concerning, with our preliminary calculations pointing to another above-target-consistent 0.22 m/m gain in core PCE prices, …
13th November 2024
The market reaction to Donald Trump’s election victory suggests that, with the Republicans closing in on a clean sweep of Congress too, his return to the White House will be a net positive for the economy. We remain highly sceptical that the Republicans …
8th November 2024
Confidence buoyed by lower inflation expectations The rise in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, despite uncertainty ahead of the US election, shows that economic developments remain the key driver of confidence in the aggregate. While …
As expected, after a run of stronger activity and inflation data since it started its rate cutting cycle with a 50bp reduction in mid-September, the Fed opted for a more modest 25bp cut at the conclusion of its two-day FOMC meeting, taking the fed funds …
7th November 2024
Fed slows pace of rate cuts As expected, after a run of stronger activity and inflation data since it started its rate cutting cycle with a 50bp reduction in mid-September, the Fed opted for a more modest 25bp cut at the conclusion of its two-day FOMC …
Surge in ULC illustrates upside risks to services inflation The BLS finally incorporated the upward revisions to its labour compensation estimates into the productivity and unit labour costs data, and the results are likely to trigger some inflation …
Trump appears to be edging ahead The presidential election remains too close to call, but Donald Trump does appear to be edging ahead in some of the key swing states. At close to 11.30pm ET, the NYT gives Trump a 91% chance of victory, expecting him to …
6th November 2024
The further rise in the ISM services index to a two-year high in October suggests the services sector is continuing to soar, contrasting with the recent weakness in manufacturing. The strong rebound in the employment index is reassuring given the weakness …
5th November 2024
Surge in imports to prove short-lived The trade deficit widened to $84.4bn in September, from an upwardly revised $70.8bn in August, as imports surged ahead of the short-lived port strike in October. Goods exports declined 1% m/m from $179.2bn to …
Race going down to the wire Although the betting markets are still convinced that Donald Trump will win next week’s presidential election, the polls remain much closer – and within the margin of error. Many of those polls have tweaked their methodologies …
1st November 2024
Manufacturing hampered by temporary disruptions The decline in the ISM manufacturing index to a 15-month low in October suggests that the sector continued to struggle as hurricanes and the ongoing strike at Boeing disrupted manufacturing activity further …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Temporary disruptions can’t explain all the labour market weakness The near-complete flatline in payrolls in October was only partly due to disruptions caused by hurricanes and …
Stronger data point to a more gradual pace of loosening Fed will not surprise financial markets amid election uncertainty We see the terminal rate higher under Trump than Harris With the economy on strong ground, we expect the Fed to shift to a more …
31st October 2024
Inflation news mixed; real economy still looks good for Q4 The news on prices was mixed, with the September data showing that the core PCE deflator increased at a slightly faster 0.25% m/m (or 3.0% in 1m annualised terms) and, in part due to some modest …
US economy continues to outperform Despite earlier fears that the US economy was headed for recession, growth continued to out-perform other DMs. Third-quarter GDP growth came in at a solid 2.8% annualised, down only trivially from the 3.0% pace in the …
30th October 2024
Despite the sharp fall in job openings, September’s JOLTS data show a labour market normalising rather than rapidly deteriorating. With October’s payrolls gain likely to have been hampered by temporary disruptions, the Fed should feel confident to cut …
29th October 2024
Trump-Musk Bromance: Economic implications Elon Musk has become one of Donald Trump’s biggest campaign supporters and donors in recent months, contributing $75 million to his America PAC and sharing the stage at events with the former President. Musk and …
25th October 2024
Stage set for a softer fourth quarter While the fall in durable goods orders in September was mostly due to the volatile transportation components, the decline in underlying capital goods shipments will still drag on business equipment investment. The …
We expect the Boeing strike and two recent hurricanes to have temporarily cooled the labour market in October. We think non-farm payrolls rose by 100,000 while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%. Payroll growth limited by strike and hurricanes …
24th October 2024
With two weeks to go until election day, Donald Trump has opened a meaningful lead over Kamala Harris in betting markets, although the latest polling suggests the race remains too close to call. To recap, we suspect Trump’s proposed curbs on immigration …
22nd October 2024
The data this week confirmed that retail sales rose strongly in September and industrial production suffered only modestly from hurricane and strike disruption, with our third-quarter GDP growth estimate still at 3.5% annualised. That said, with the full …
18th October 2024
Recessions fears continue to go unfounded, with the labour market still in good health after the strong September employment report. Prospects for October look weaker due to recent temporary disruptions but, with core inflation pressures heating up a …
17th October 2024
Production hit by hurricane and Boeing disruptions The fall in manufacturing output in September was entirely due to the disruption caused by the Boeing machinists’ strike and Hurricane Helene. Indeed, with these impacts excluded, industrial production …
Sales strong despite late-month hurricane disruption The strong 0.7% m/m rise in control group retail sales in September suggests that consumption growth strengthened to more than 3% annualised last quarter. That said, timelier data show a big drop in …
Evidence of residual seasonality in the core PCE deflator means there is a risk that core price pressures will rebound in the new year. That said, the residual seasonality is concentrated in core goods, which have been falling in price this year, …
14th October 2024
Hurricanes add to upside inflation risks Inflation risks more balanced Based on the combined CPI and PPI data, we calculate that the Fed’s preferred core PCE deflator price measure increased by 0.24% m/m in September which, at 2.9% annualised, is a little …
11th October 2024
Mood turns sour amid Helene The trivial fall in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index in October was likely driven in part by Hurricane Helene, although the fall in the expectations index suggests the mood among households may have soured …
PPI points to 0.24% m/m increase in core PCE Based on the combined CPI and PPI data, we now calculate that the Fed’s preferred core PCE deflator price measure increased by 0.24% m/m in September which, at 2.9% annualised, is a little hotter than we’ve …
Core CPI consistent with another muted gain in core PCE Although core CPI prices increased by 0.3% m/m for a second consecutive month in September, our calculations suggest that core PCE prices increased by 0.20% m/m which, at an annualised pace, is only …
10th October 2024
Fed split on whether to kick off with 50bp or 25bp rate cut last month The minutes of the mid-September FOMC meeting reveal that support among Fed officials for kicking off the loosening cycle with a bigger 50bp rate cut was a little weaker than the lone …
9th October 2024
Rise in exports suggest stronger GDP growth The trade deficit narrowed to $70.4bn in August, from $78.9bn, as exports grew by 2% m/m and imports declined by 0.9% m/m. Exports, especially in real terms, were stronger than the advance goods data had implied …
8th October 2024
The unexpectedly strong 254,000 gain in payroll employment in September was a welcome surprise, but the deterioration in most other labour market indicators suggests this was a one-off rather than the start of a genuine renaissance. Survey-based hiring …
7th October 2024
September’s blockbuster employment report and the rebound in the October ISM services index mean that any hopes of another 50bp rate cut are long gone. We continue to expect the Fed to take a more measured approach from next month’s FOMC meeting onwards – …
4th October 2024
Labour market strength rules out another 50bp rate cut Looking at the labour market strength evident in September’s Employment Report, the real debate at the Fed should be about whether to loosen monetary policy at all. Any hopes of a 50bp cut are long …
