- Homebase signals December payroll growth of about 225K; no sign of further weakening yet.
- Lower rates are beginning to cheer homebuilders, who will gain further market share as home sales rise.
- Single-family construction is rebounding, fitfully, but the multi-family rollover has further to go.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Retail sales data suggest Q4 consumption is on course for a 2½% gain, but that could change.
- Households’ real liquid assets are back to their pre-Covid trend; the pandemic excess is gone.
- Manufacturing production likely rebounded strongly last month after the UAW strike, but the trend is flat.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Chair Powell says the Fed is done—probably—but still doesn’t want to talk about when they’ll ease.
- The inflation forecasts still look very cautious, and likely will be undershot.
- Headline November retail sales constrained by cheaper gas, but the core likely was soft too.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The FOMC likely will cut its inflation and interest forecasts, but will push back against easing talk.
- Core disinflation pressure remains intense, but core services inflation is still too high.
- PPI margin inflation is now close to zero, but it could easily fall well below zero next year.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- We look for a 0.2% November core CPI print, but a 0.3% increase is more likely than 0.1%.
- The bigger picture, though, is that core disinflation is well underway, and has much further to run.
- The NFIB index likely rebounded in November, but the details of the survey are what matter.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Homebase and the ISM services employment index signal upside payroll risk for November.
- But the underlying state of the labor market is weakening, and wage growth is slowing.
- Look at the Michigan expectations index, not the headline; it’s a better predictor of actual spending.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The gap between the GDI and GDP numbers is unusually large by historic standards...
- ...Undercounting of interest payments means that big upward revisions to GDI are a good bet.
- ISM services signals modest and steady growth, but hints at a hefty bounce in October payrolls.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Higher rates and tighter lending standards are depressing credit and constraining spending…
- …But the hit is modest, so far, and the deterioration in credit quality is not yet alarming.
- Initial jobless claims are wild around Thanksgiving, but look for a further increase in continuing claims.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The quits rate fell much further than implied by the drop in unemployment during the Great Rehiring…
- …It correctly signalled that wage gains would rocket, but now it tells the opposite story.
- ISM services has tracked sideways in recent months, net; the pattern likely continued in November.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Core PCE inflation is fading rapidly; in recent months it has run only just above 2% on a sequential basis.
- Consumption spending slowed at the start of Q4, but likely is on course to rise at a 2%-plus rate.
- Look for only a modest bounce in the ISM manufacturing index, despite the leap in the Chicago PMI.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The October PCE data likely will confirm that core disinflation continues, but still has a way to go.
- Spending growth appears to have moderated, though one softer month proves nothing.
- Jobless claims likely rebounded last week, though the Thanksgiving seasonals are tricky.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Treat everything you read about holiday spending with great skepticism; reliable data don’t exist.
- Even the official retail sales numbers can’t be trusted until after at least one round of revisions.
- The trade deficit was wild during and immediately after Covid, but it’s much calmer now.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Gas and stock prices have an outsized influence on consumers’ confidence indexes, politics matters too.
- The expectations subindexes historically have been a decent guide to real consumption spending.
- Monthly swings in new home sales are mostly noise, but the trend is now flattening.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The upturn in jobless claims bears close attention, though it’s much too soon to panic.
- Ignore the wild durable goods headline; core capex orders are rising, but other data are less benign.
- Consumers’ sentiment likely will respond to cheaper gasoline; will inflation expectations do the same?
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
THE FED IS DONE, AND WILL START EASING IN SPRING...
- ...BUT THE FOMC WON’T ABANDON OPTIONALITY JUST YET
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The Homebase small business employment data point to a hefty rebound in November payrolls...
- ...But the margin of error in all payroll forecasts is huge; the seasonals are an intractable problem.
- No bottom yet for existing home sales, but supply is edging up, and valuations are falling as incomes rise.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The rebound in jobless claims in recent weeks is not yet definitive evidence of a shift in the trend.
- The multi-family housing construction boom is over, though single-family starts are still rising.
- The steep drops in manufacturing output and homebuilder sentiment reported yesterday won’t last.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- The House Continuing Resolution kicks the can down the road to January and February; it solves nothing.
- October's retail sales numbers are consistent with a clear slowing in Q4 consumption growth.
- PPI disinflation continues; the October numbers, alongside the CPI, signal a 0.25% core PCE print.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- Markets have broken decisively from the Fed; inves- tors no longer believe in rate hike optionality.
- Core CPI inflation ex-rents is now just 2.0% and fall- ing, and the pace of rent increases will slow sharply.
- We’re sticking to our call for the first easing in March, but we doubt Chair Powell will quickly declare victory.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
- October’s core CPI probably rose 0.4%, but the risks are biased to the downside.
- Hotel room rates, health insurance and new vehicle prices all seem likely to have pushed up the core.
- Our medium-term optimism remains, but disinflation won’t proceed in a neat straight line every month.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist, Chairman and Founder)US
