US Economics Weekly Fed risking falling further behind the curve While the Fed announced tapering as expected at its meeting this week, the big surprise was how dovish the language in the statement and press conference remained, which suggests to us an increasing... 5th November 2021 · 5 mins read
US Data Response Employment Report (Oct.) The stronger 531,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in October suggests the economy is rebounding rapidly from the initial Delta wave but, despite easing virus concerns, there was absolutely no sign of a... 5th November 2021 · 2 mins read
US Economics Update Shortages holding back investment and productivity While attention has been focused on how shortages and surging prices are holding back real consumption, those same factors are weighing even more heavily on business equipment investment. Faced with... 4th November 2021 · 4 mins read
Consumer Spending Likely Grew More Slowly in September “I think we just have to be honest and say we don’t really know how long this is going to last,” said Michael Pearce, senior economist at Capital Economics. 29th October 2021 · Wall Street Journal
US Employment Report Preview Delta drag easing, but shortages worsening We estimate that non-farm payrolls rose by a slightly stronger 300,000 in October, with the easing Delta wave of infections triggering some rebound in hiring, but worsening labour shortages are a... 28th October 2021 · 4 mins read
US Data Response Durable Goods (Sep.) The weakness in headline durable goods orders last month was driven by another fall in transport orders, which mostly reflects worsening supply problems in the auto market. The strong increase in... 27th October 2021 · 2 mins read
US Chart Pack Uncertainty over Fed’s reaction function We are confident in our new forecasts that GDP growth will be a disappointing 2.7% in 2022 and 2.0% in 2023, while core inflation remains elevated at close to 3%, but we are less confident in our... 21st October 2021 · 9 mins read
US Data Response Industrial Production (Sep.) The 1.3% fall in industrial production in September partly reflects a temporary hit to mining and chemicals output from Hurricane Ida and a drop in cooling demand, as the weather returned to seasonal... 18th October 2021 · 2 mins read
US Economic Outlook Whiff of stagflation gets stronger The whiff of stagflation is getting stronger as shortages worsen, leading to surging prices and weaker real GDP growth. Shortages of goods and intermediate inputs will eventually ease, although not... 18th October 2021 · 23 mins read
US Economics Update Deepening labour shortages point to lasting damage The August Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey released yesterday added to signs that labour shortages are still getting worse at a time when many of the temporary factors that were supposedly... 13th October 2021 · 3 mins read
US Economics Weekly Congress hits snooze on the debt ceiling Even the more modest 194,000 gain in non-farm payrolls in September is “decent” enough for the Fed to announce at next month’s meeting that it will begin tapering its asset purchases, especially now... 8th October 2021 · 8 mins read
US Data Response Durable Goods (Aug.) The 1.8% m/m rise in durable goods orders in August was due to the ongoing rebound in commercial aircraft orders together with solid growth in underlying capital goods orders, with the latter... 27th September 2021 · 2 mins read
US Chart Pack Data provide mixed signals on Delta impact The latest data provide mixed signals on the impact that the Delta variant is having on the economy. The high frequency indicators for high contact services suggest that activity levelled out in... 21st September 2021 · 9 mins read
Some Big Deflationary Forces May Be Starting to Fade Of course, prior to the crisis, inflation had been mild for some time. In a note out on Monday, Michael Pearce of Capital Economics notes some of the disinflationary headwinds that had kept numbers... 20th September 2021 · Bloomberg
CE Spotlight Are the structural headwinds to inflation fading? The past few decades have been marked by a combination of sustained disinflationary forces, but the picture in more recent years, and particularly since the pandemic, looks more mixed. Globalisation... 20th September 2021 · 20 mins read
US Data Response Retail Sales (Aug.) Even though the 0.7% rise in headline retail sales in August was much better than expected, the details were far less positive, with big downward revisions to previous months, while the rise in online... 16th September 2021 · 2 mins read
