US Rapid Response Trump gives one-month reprieve on Canada & Mexico auto tariffs President Donald Trump's decision to grant a one-month exemption to the Big Three Automakers (Ford, GM & Stellantis) is something of a disappointment given the earlier heavy hints from his Commerce... 5th March 2025 · 1 min read
US Rapid Response US ISM Services Index (Feb. 2025) After the slew of weaker activity and survey data in recent weeks, the small rise in the ISM services index in February should provide some reassurance that the floor is not falling from under the... 5th March 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US ISM Manufacturing Index (Feb. 2025) The fall in the ISM manufacturing index in February likely marks the beginning of the end of the recent mini renaissance, as the reality of the disruption to the sector caused by tariffs (including... 3rd March 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US Personal Income & Spending (Jan. 2025) The 0.28% m/m rise in core PCE prices in January was a big improvement on last year’s 0.5% m/m gain, but the 2.6% annual core inflation rate is still too hot for the Fed’s liking and, with... 28th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US Durable Goods Orders (Jan. 2025) The increase in durable goods orders in January was due to the volatile transport component, while core orders were unchanged. Although underlying capital goods shipments fell, business investment... 27th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US Fed FOMC Minutes (Jan 28th-29th) The minutes of the Fed’s late-January policy meeting underline that, having cut rates by a cumulative 100bp, officials are in no hurry to resume loosening monetary policy, even though most still... 19th February 2025 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response US-Russia talks don’t signal near-term end to the war The decision by the US and Russia to “lay the groundwork” to end the war in Ukraine marks a potentially significant turning point after three years of conflict. Negotiations will take time and the... 18th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response Industrial Production (Jan. 2025) The rise in industrial production in January is not as good as it looks as it was driven by a weather-related surge in utilities and a further post-strike recovery in aerospace & parts output. 14th February 2025 · 1 min read
US Rapid Response US Retail Sales (Jan. 2025) The large fall in control group retail sales in January, together with the timelier data showing a slump in vehicle sales, suggests that real consumption fell last month. While weather effects were... 14th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response Trump's reciprocal tariffs a bigger deal than universal measure President Trump appears to have abandoned the idea of imposing a flat universal tariff of 10% or 20% on imports from all other countries. But the broad criteria that will be used to assess his new... 13th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US PPI (Jan 2025) Final demand PPI increased by a bigger-than-expected 0.4% m/m, but the components that feed into the Fed’s preferred PCE price measure were, on the whole, very tame. As a result, we now estimate that... 13th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US Consumer Prices (Jan 2025) The 0.45% m/m increase in core CPI in January will, after the spike at this time last year, add to the impression that the price data have a residual seasonality problem. Assuming the producer price... 12th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response Fed Chair Powell Testimony to Congress Fed Chair Jerome Powell stuck to the line that the Fed was in no hurry to adjust its policy stance in his semi-annual testimony to Congress today. Given that inflation remains above target and the... 11th February 2025 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response Uni. Of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Feb. 2025) The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for February showed a decline in the headline index alongside a sharp rise in inflation expectations, suggesting that consumers are increasingly... 7th February 2025 · 1 min read
US Rapid Response US Employment Report (Jan. 2025) The softer 143,000 gain in payrolls in January is nothing to be concerned about following the upward revisions to payrolls in November and December, which left the three-month average gain at a near... 7th February 2025 · 3 mins read
US Rapid Response ISM Services Index (Jan. 2025) The fall in the ISM services index to 52.8 in December lends some support to our view that GDP growth will slow in the next couple of quarters, albeit with the caveat that the surveys have proved to... 5th February 2025 · 2 mins read
