Pantheon Macroeconomics

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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

Please use the filters on the right to search for a specific date or topic.

Daily Monitor Global Weekly Monitor

3 July 2025 US Monitor Will Mr. Trump blink again during the upcoming tariff spats?

  • The average effective tariff rate will rise by a further 6pp next week, if no new trade deals are signed.
  • But we doubt these additional tariffs will last; retaliation by trade partners will spur another climbdown. 
  • The construction slump signals weaker growth in activity and employment, but likely not a recession

Samuel TombsUS

2 July 2025 US Monitor Labor demand is still weak, despite higher JOLTS openings

  • Rising JOLTS job openings are driven by hospitality firms rehiring to comply with employment laws...
  • ...Measurement problems also boosting the numbers; large downward revisions are now common.
  • Tariff revenues currently equal 10% of the value of imports, but the effective tariff rate likely is higher.

Samuel TombsUS

1 July 2025 US Monitor Expect soft June payrolls, and yet another set of downward revisions

  • The abundance of weak surveys points to a 100K first estimate for June payrolls.
  • Downward revisions to estimated payrolls in April and May also are likely.
  • Scraps of evidence suggest late responses from struggling small businesses explains the pattern.

Samuel TombsUS

30 June 2025 US Monitor Consumers' spending is rapidly losing momentum

  • Spending fell by 0.3% in May, with little chance of a June rebound, and further weakness likely in Q3.
  • The 0.4% fall in May incomes was due to one-time factors, but real income growth is set to stagnate.
  • The core PCE deflator surprised to the upside in May, but the 0.18% rise will pale in comparison to June.

Samuel TombsUS

27 June 2025 US Monitor Today's May incomes and spending data will ring alarm bells

  • We look for a below-consensus 0.2% decline in real expenditure in May...
  • ...One-time factors likely drove the drop, but the Q3 outlook for real after-tax income growth is bleak.
  • 3% GDP growth looks likely in Q2, as the unwinding of tariff distortions obscures underlying weakness.

Samuel TombsUS

26 June 2025 US Monitor How quickly will the FOMC react to higher-than-expected unemployment?

  • Mr. Powell refrained from providing lawmakers with triggers and timings for the intended policy easing in H2...
  • ...But 2024’s small upside unemployment surprise drove a rapid pivot; expect a repeat, despite the tariffs. 
  • GDPNow’s 3.4% projection for Q2 growth looks about right; underlying momentum is about half that figure.

Samuel TombsUS

25 June 2025 US Monitor Sluggish payroll growth signalled by Homebase and the Conference Board

  • Homebase data point to a mere 100K rise in June payrolls; Conference Board data point to even worse.
  • No other reliable indicators of payroll growth are due to be released, so we likely will maintain our 100K forecast.
  • The April surge in new home sales looks very fishy: we expect a slump in May.

Samuel TombsUS

24 June 2025 US Monitor The scope for Fed easing is much bigger than S&P PMI data suggests

  • S&P reports brisk employment growth in June, but itsindex has been a very poor guide to payrolls since 2023.
  • The output price index signals an implausibly large pick- up in core goods CPI inflation ahead.
  • The unwinding of a one-time uplift to Social Security payments probably dragged on income growth in May.

Samuel TombsUS

23 June 2025 US Monitor Consumption looks vulnerable to the looming real-income shock

  • Real income growth has already slowed significantly, and will grind to a halt as tariffs boost consumer prices.
  • Spending growth likely will soften too; households’ balance sheets are less supportive than post-Covid.
  • We expect growth in consumers’ spending to slow just 1% by Q4, down from nearly 3% in Q1.

Samuel TombsUS

20 June 2025 US Monitor The FOMC's forecast of continued low unemployment is wishful thinking

  • Many FOMC participants raised their rate forecasts, but Mr. Powell says “no one... has a lot of conviction”.
  • The Committee is overlooking several indicators that point to a material rise in unemployment ahead.
  • The slump in single family construction is deepening, another headwind to activity and employment.

Samuel TombsUS

18 June 2025 US Monitor May retail sales highlight the deteriorating outlook for spending

  • The biggest fall in headline retail sales in two years suggests consumers are starting to tire…
  • …More weakness is likely in the coming months, as tariff-induced price rises hit in earnest.
  • The further rise in import prices ex-tariffs in May indicates tariff costs are being borne entirely in the US.

Samuel TombsUS

17 June 2025 US Monitor Will new FOMC forecasts shift markets' pricing of further easing?

  • The median FOMC member this week probably will envisage easing by just 25bp this year...
  • ...But the case for expecting more easing remains robust; signs of labor market weakness are growing.
  • The $10pb rise in oil prices will lift the CPI by 0.2%, likely dulling Mr. Trump’s appetite for more tariffs.

Oliver Allen (Senior US Economist)US

16 June 2025 US Monitor May retail sales likely posted their biggest fall in over two years

  • We look for a below-consensus drop in May retail sales of about 1%, driven by autos and other durables.
  • Spending elsewhere seems to be holding up relatively well for now, but that will change as prices start to rise.
  • Real incomes likely will stagnate in Q3; households no longer have the means to fuel strong spending growth.

Samuel TombsUS

13 June 2025 US Monitor May's core PCE print will be the last mild one this year

  • CPI and PPI data imply a 0.12% rise in the May core PCE deflator, but 0.3-to-0.4% prints lie straight ahead.
  • Momentum in services prices will rebuild in June and July, while retailers will start to pass on tariff costs.
  • Jobless claims provide further evidence that the labor market is gradually softening.

Samuel TombsUS

12 June 2025 US Monitor Expect payback for May's below-trend rise in the CPI over the summer

  • Changes in import prices rarely feed through instantly to consumer prices; brace for a surge this summer.
  • CPI services data remain plagued by residual seasonality; expect much faster increases ahead.
  • We still expect core CPI inflation to peak at 3½% in Q4, though that won’t stop the Fed easing.

Samuel TombsUS

11 June 2025 US Monitor Can Adobe's Digital Price Index improve CPI forecasts?

  • The aggregate DPI is a poor guide to CPI core goods prices, but some components are well correlated.
  • The useful component DPIs point to no step up yet in the pace of goods price rises in response to tariffs.
  • A very low response rate to NFIB’s survey casts doubt over the May rebound in small business confidence.

Samuel TombsUS

10 June 2025 US Monitor Core CPI likely gained momentum in May, but less than widely expected

  • We think the core CPI rose by 0.3% in May, but a 0.2% increase looks more likely than a 0.4%.
  • Indicators point to a moderate step up in the pace of core goods price rises; the surge is coming from June.
  • Discretionary services prices likely were soft again, while the seasonals will pull down other services prices.

Samuel TombsUS

9 June 2025 US Monitor Mr. Trump is right; the labor market will need substantial Fed easing soon

  • Moderate payroll growth in May offers little reassurance, due to the re-emerging pattern of downward revisions.
  • Hiring intentions indicators point to payroll growth slowing to about 75K in Q3; federal job cuts will continue.
  • The trend of slowing payroll growth will be startling by the FOMC’s September meeting, compelling easing.

Samuel TombsUS

6 June 2025 US Monitor Sticking with our 125K forecast for payrolls, despite ADP's awful data

  • ADP’s private payroll numbers are a woeful guide to the official data; even back-to-back low prints offer no signal.
  • As a result, we are maintaining our forecast for a 125K increase in nonfarm payrolls in May.
  • QCEW data imply big downward revisions to payrolls, but mostly because they exclude unauthorized workers.

Samuel TombsUS

5 June 2025 US Monitor The downward trend in construction spending has further to run

  • Construction spending has dropped significantly in recent months, a trend we expect to continue…
  • …Falling spending points to small but sustained declines in construction payrolls ahead.
  • Auto sales plunged by 9.4% in May, signalling the broader wave of pre-tariff purchases is now fading.

Oliver Allen (Senior US Economist)US

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