US Publications
Below is a list of our US Publications for the last 5 months. If you are looking for reports older than 5 months please email info@pantheonmacro.com, or contact your account rep
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Samuel Tombs
Turnaround in consumers’ spending built on shaky foundations.
- Spending numbers up to August point to 3% growth in third quarter consumption...
- ...But that pace looks unsustainable, given the myriad headwinds facing households.
- Real after-tax incomes are flatlining, the saving rate is already low, and balance sheets are more fragile.
- We are raising our forecast for Q3 GDP growth to 2.5%, from 2.0%, after August’s advance indicators...
- ...But advance GDP estimates missed the last three major downturns; payrolls are a better gauge.
- Residual seasonality depresses continuing claims in September; the labor market is still weakening.
- The Chicago Fed’s new unemployment tracker relies on several inputs with a poor track records.
- The weights of the inputs are currently unclear; other—useful—indicators have been overlooked too.
- The 20.5% leap in new home sales in August looks implausible to us, and the outlook remains dim.
- The composite PMI is alone in signalling a return to 3% GDP growth in Q3; its margin of error is wide.
- But the signal of slowing producer price inflation is reliable, consistent with a transitory tariff impact.
- We think new home sales dropped back in August, adding to the woes of homebuilders.
GDP LIKELY REGAINED SOME MOMENTUM IN Q3...
- ...BUT CONTINUED CAUTIOUS HIRING WILL SPUR FURTHER EASING
- The openings-to-U6 ratio has fallen materially this year, and job switchers are no longer rewarded.
- The NFIB, regional Fed, Indeed and NY Fed consumer surveys all signal slower wage growth ahead.
- The tariffs are chiefly responsible; wage growth has slowed most at businesses on the front line.
Unemployment fears resurge; discretionary spending likely to remain subdued.
- Financial conditions have improved for large firms; the bond refinancing headwind has almost gone...
- ...But the option value of waiting for more information is high; the federal policy outlook is uncertain.
- Small businesses still face tight credit conditions; FDI is costlier; and profits are now being squeezed.
The puzzle of retailers’ margins has just been revised away.
- The median FOMC participant expects to ease by a further 50bp this year, but several envisage less.
- The risks to the FOMC’s unemployment forecast are skewed to the upside; rates will fall to 3% next year.
- Last week’s surge in mortgage refinancing is unlikely to endure; new rates are still too high.
- Inflation-adjusted retail sales continued to climb in August, despite the tariffs...
- ...But consumer have endured only one-third of the tariff costs; Q4 sales likely will be much weaker.
- Manufacturing output edged up again in August, but capex is impeded by tariff uncertainty.
- We look for a 0.5% rise in total retail sales in August, slightly above the consensus...
- ...Auto sales likely fell by about 1%, but most indicators of the control measure point to solid growth.
- Homebase data are robust for the payroll survey week; shame they are no longer a bellwether.
- A 25bp easing this week is highly likely, but the vote probably will be split three ways.
- Committee members are still divided on whether rising inflation or unemployment is the bigger risk...
- ...That discord will rule out clear guidance on future easing, though markets will still price-in a big shift.
Surge driven by Texas; the trend is still gently upward sloping.
Tariffs continuing to lift goods prices; pass-through only one-third complete.
- Tariffs continued to lift goods prices in August; we think pass-through is now about one-third complete.
- Airline fares and accommodation services prices are unlikely to rise much further after leaping in August.
- The outsized August jump in CPI rents is just noise around a slowing trend; nothing to worry about.
Labor demand and capex plans still depressed.
- Retailers’ margins began to buckle in August under tariff pressure; expect a significant squeeze ahead.
- Producer prices for goods are still rising in response to tariffs, but the underlying cost picture is benign.
- The core PCE deflator likely rose briskly in August, but no sign of the services price surge implied by the ISM.
- Preliminary benchmarking indicates 911K fewer jobs were created in year to March; that’s a huge revision.
- Most of that downward revision likely reflects the initial overstatement of job creation at new businesses.
- The birth-death model is still make a big contribution today; payrolls have probably fallen over the summer.
