- December's grim retail sales report likely will be fol- lowed by further weakness in January...
- Spending has been hit, temporarily, by a one-two punch from early holiday shopping, then Omicron.
- The Fed is dead set on starting to tighten soon, but the upcoming data should dampen Q2 expectations.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The Omicron hit likely will be visible in the retail sales data, but the core goods numbers should be OK.
- Industrial production probably was depressed by very warm December weather; expect a quick rebound.
- Car prices are beginning to moderate in the PPI, both at the manufacturer and dealer margin levels.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- CPI inflation will peak in the next few months, but the speed of the coming downshift is unclear.
- China's PPI inflation is now falling and has further to go; the U.S. will follow soon.
- Seasonal adjustment issues likely pushed jobless claims up again last week, but the trend is falling.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The Homebase small business jobs data point to December payrolls rising by 1M-plus...
- ADP's numbers today likely will be far short of this pace, but we see upside risk to the consensus.
- Supply chain pressures continue to ease; expect the key ISM readings to be at normal levels by the spring.
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.
- Homebase data for December point to a a surge in payrolls; they were right about the soft November.
- Omicron is a serious threat to job growth early in the New Year; spending on services will drop for a time.
- Real-time data aren't rolling over yet, but European experience sends a very clear warning.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Faster productivity growth means higher real neutral rates, but can the private sector cope?
- Households and firms are in good shape, with low debt service ratios and transformed balance sheets.
- Markets don't believe the Fed's dotplot, but it's more likely that the markets will have to move up.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
The U.K.'s exponential leap in Covid cases and plunge in services activity is coming to the U.S., soon.
We hope the Omicron wave will be brief, but it is cer- tain to be severe, at least in terms of cases.
The robust industrial recovery continues, with every chance of further increases in output in Q1.
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 likely will want to take out further insurance, beyond faster tapering, against upside inflation risk.
- Restoring 2% inflation requires supply chains to ease, wage gains to slow, and productivity growth to rise.
- Individually, these are all much better than 50/50 shots but the Fed needs them all.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Job growth has strengthened from the summer lows, but seems not yet to be back to the pre-Delta pace.
- Participation is the key variable for the Fed; it has to rise, soon, in order to constrain wage gains.
- Hourly earnings growth in November likely was limit- ed by a calendar quirk; expect stronger in December.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Most of the variation in GDP growth since Covid has been due to wild swings in domestic demand...
- ...But net foreign trade looks set to make a meaningful contribution in Q4, alongside strong consumption.
- The continued increase in core capital goods orders signals faster future productivity growth.
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.
- Covid cases are rising in states with low vax rates, waning vax efficacy, and low prior infections...
- ...Colder weather likely is boosting infections in the northern half of the country; expect NE cases to soar.
- New treatment and vaccine protection against severe disease will keep hospitalizations and deaths down.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Used vehicle auction prices are still rising, but the rate of increase has slowed; is the worst over?
- A year from now, and possibly much sooner, we ex- pect car prices to be in free-fall.
- Surging Philly Fed and Empire State surveys suggest that the strong manufacturing rebound continues.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- Core retail sales are rising at a solid pace; a strong holiday season is a decent bet...
- ...But a sustained rebound in spending on services is still the missing link in the recovery story.
- Mortgage demand continues to rise steadily; home sales and housing construction follow.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The initial Homebase jobs data for the November payroll survey week look disconcertingly soft...
- ...But the data always are revised up, and the revisions are consistent; we look for 800K private jobs.
- October retail sales and industrial production num- bers today likely will confirm a solid start to Q4.
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.
- A combination of Homebase and ADP signals a 525K payroll print for October...
- ...The rebound in activity as Delta cases fell came too late to drive a bigger gain; November will be better.
- Rapid wage gains likely continued last month, but the real test will come when participation rebounds.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
- The drop in Covid cases has stalled, thanks to a few western states; the downturn should resume soon.
- Manufacturing orders wobbling as supply chain pressures bite harder; no relief yet in sight.
- New auto sales might finally have hit bottom, or not; forecasts for October are all over the map.
Ian Shepherdson (Chief Economist and Founder)U.S.
