- The risk to December payrolls is decidedly to the up- side; we look for 850K, against the 444K consensus.
- A further rise in participation would be hugely significant, signalling an easing of excess labor demand.
- The ISM services survey suggests that supply-chain pressures are easing, but they remain intense.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Core PCE probably hit a 32-year high in November, but it has further to rise before peaking in February.
- Core capital goods orders are rising, but higher inflation is eating into the gains in real terms.
- Upside risk for November new home sales, given the sustained surge in mortgage applications.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
The Fed's tapering and rate hike plans assume only a modest hit from Omicron; we hope they're right.
Chair Powell emphasised the threat from rapid wage gains; all eyes on labor participation, and the Q4 ECI.
The abrupt slowing in core retail sales in November is no big deal; a correction was due after rapid gains.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
The Fed will announce faster tapering today, opening the door to a rate hike in the spring.
The dotplot likely will show two rate hikes in 2022, triggered by the run of upside inflation surprises.
Core retail sales likely undershot consensus in November, but the trend is still strong.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Jobless claims look set to plunge to a new, though temporary, pandemic low.
- Downside risk for headline durable goods orders, but core capex orders are what matter.
- October's core PCE deflator likely rose by less than the core CPI, but further big gains are coming.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- If the Fed's transitory view is to be proved correct, wage growth has to slow, so participation has to rise.
- Productivity growth has to rise too, and global supply chain pressures have to fade.
- These are all reasonable bets, but nothing is certain, and inflation will rise much further in the near-term.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The Fed faces serious challenges to the "transitory" story over the next few months...
- ...On top of surging wages, the core CPI is set to surge, and economic growth is likely to rebound.
- With the Fed set to taper, just as issuance rebounds after the debt ceiling is fixed, expect yields to jump.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
Core CPI inflation looks set to power past 5% by the year-end as used car prices and airline fares rebound.
The peak will come early next year, but the rate will remain elevated for most of the year.
If unit labor costs remain controlled, the "transitory" story is sustainable, but expect pressure on the Fed.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Unit labor costs are key to the U.S. inflation story, but global factors matter too...
- ...If China is no longer a source of disinflation pressure, the Fed will have less room for labor cost maneuver.
- Ignore the decline in September housing construc- tion; it's much more noise than signal.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- September's core CPI was flattered by unsustainable declines in airline fares, lodging and used car prices...
- ...But rents rose at the fastest pace in 15 years, so all eyes now will be on the October report.
- Stop Press: FOMC minutes confirm tapering to be announced at the November meeting.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- China's manufacturing slowdown is not helpful to the U.S., but it is a long way from a hammer-blow.
- Consumers' spending likely rose a bit in August, but September won't be great; Q4 should be much better.
- The core PCE spike is over, but airline fares will lift the August reading relative to the core CPI.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The FOMC is on course to taper in November, provid- ed markets aren't in turmoil over the debt ceiling.
- The Fed's new economic forecasts are much more realistic, but FOMC opinions are spread widely.
- Chair Powell remains confident that inflation will be contained; upward forecast revisions are no big deal.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The FOMC and Chair Powell appear prepared to signal that tapering will start in December.
- Expect more dots for a 2022 rate hike, but the median forecast likely will still be for the first move in 2023.
- Existing home sales are falling slowly, while inventory is rising; price gains are slowing.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The current inflation spike can only become a spiral if unit labor costs accelerate..
- ...Faster productivity growth can prevent that, and the signs are that business capex is stepping up.
- Stronger productivity growth would prevent runaway inflation but lift r-star; the Fed would still have to hike.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Core PPI inflation likely hit a new high in August, but the month-to-month increases are set to slow.
- Much of the recent surge has been due to widening margins, especially in autos; this can't last forever.
- The drop in jobless claims reported yesterday is noise, not signal, and it says nothing about payrolls.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Chair Powell can't signal a tapering start date today because the Fed first needs to see fall labor data.
- Expect the usual themes instead; inflation will be "transitory", insufficient progress to taper, and Delta risk.
- Upside risk for both consumers' spending and the core PCE deflator in today's July data.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
For most of the decade before the pandemic, core CPI inflation ran a few tenths higher than core PCE inflation, mostly because rents, which are twice as important in the core CPI, rose faster than broad inflation.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
The Wall Street Journal ran a nonsensical editorial piece yesterday on the subject of inflation.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
Chair Powell made it clear yesterday that the Fed's leadership is sticking to its view that the reopening surge in inflation is due mostly to "base effects… and production bottlenecks or other supply constraints", which will not last.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
The Dallas Fed last week published a short blog post—seehere—focused on the predictive power of their trimmed mean PCE inflation measure.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
