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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- The median FOMC member still expects to ease policy by 25bp this year, unchanged from December.
- The new, higher forecasts for core PCE inflation are plausible, but those for stable unemployment are not.
- PPI data show retailers have passed on all the tariff costs to consumers; margins back on track.
- We think headline CPI inflation would soar to 6% if oil prices hit $150, with core PCE inflation rising to 31/2%.
- The jump implies a hit to GDP of just over 1pp, probably lifting the unemployment rate to about 5%.
- We think the Fed would wait until next spring to deliver the 75bp easing we expect this year in our base case.
Little to cheer for homebuilders.
Underlying manufacturing output still looks anemic.
- FOMC participants will lift their Q4 forecasts for both core PCE inflation and the unemployment rate.
- The median participant likely will still expect 25bp easing this year, but risks are skewed to no cuts.
- We still look for 75bp easing, but have pushed back our forecast for the first cut to September.
- January was the fifth straight month of sub-0.3% gains in real consumption; the worst since 2012.
- Oil prices will squeeze real incomes by 11/4% if they are sustained at $100, or 1/2% if they follow futures.
- Households lack the balance sheet strength to brush this aside; spending will grow only modestly.
- QCEW data suggest payrolls probably fell by about 10K per month in the six months to September.
- The gap between first and final payroll estimates is trending at about 70K, still big relative to history.
January’s jump in housing starts will unwind; population growth is slow and affordability
- stretched.
- The year-to-date increase in the core CPI is in line with its 2015-to-19 average.
- Airline fares and used auto prices will soar, but tariff pass-through is mostly over; rents will slow further.
- The core PCE deflator again likely rose more quickly than the core CPI in February, but will slow mid-year.
- The highest net balance of small business reported rising sales in February since May 2022...
- ...But elevated uncertainty is keeping capex intentions at multi-year lows, and hiring plans subdued.
- We are revising up our forecast for the January core PCE deflator; prices for legal services soared.
- The core CPI likely rose by 0.2% in February, despite the rebound in used auto prices.
- Nearly all the tariff costs have already come through; snowstorms likely weighed on clothing prices.
- The jump in oil prices to $85pb implies headline CPI inflation will shoot above 3% soon.
The underlying trend in core sales still is slowing.
- Only part of the drop in February payrolls was due to strikes and the birth-death model.
- The trend in first estimates of payrolls is only about 25K, implying falling employment after revisions.
- Drivers soon will be paying $4.00 per gallon for gas, squeezing real disposable income and hitting jobs.
Encouraging signs, but an unreliable guide to the hard data.
- Tax refunds are up only 10% year-over-year to date, far short of the near-30% rise we expected...
- ...But a meaningful boost to growth in consumers’ spending in H1 still looks likely.
- Layoff indicators remain subdued, but the renewed fall in NFIB hiring intentions implies weak job gains.
- The housing sector typically see the earliest and biggest boost from looser Fed policy…
- …But homebuilders face considerable headwinds, even if mortgage rates continue to fall.
- These constraints will blunt the boost from easier policy, making additional rate cuts more likely.
- Expect just a 0.2pp uplift to the CPI if the $10 jump in WTI oil prices lasts; the core CPI impact is a wash.
- We look for a 0.6% fall in headline sales in January, mostly due to a weather-linked plunge in auto sales.
- Winter Storm Fern likely weighed on sales ex-autos too, and the underlying trend also now is weak.
Encouraging signs, but big headwinds remain.
- February payrolls likely rose by only about 25K, below the trend, due to strikes.
- The weather was favorable in both January and February payroll survey weeks, so likely a neutral factor.
- The unemployment rate will repeat its past tendency of rebounding in February after dipping in January.
