Using the Sahm rule:
ZeroHedge Goes Adaptive Expectations
Imagine my surprise when I see a statement “rates are now barely positive according to all official inflation and rate data” in an article titled “Will the Fed Elect Biden?” and the accompanying graph:
Debt Projections Pre- and Post- Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (of 2017)
CBO projections of debt, normalized by GDP and potential GDP, from before December passage/signing (CBO June 2017) and after (April 2018).
Under What Administrations Does the Debt-to-GDP Start Rising?
Pretty clear to me:
One of the Three is Not Like the Others: The Partisan Divide and Economic Sentiment
Here’s the U.Michigan sentiment indices for three partisan groupings, vs. the SF Fed News Sentiment index.
Recession in 2022?
From reader JohnH in September 2022, who now states he “was not cheering a recession in mid-2022”.
Some Reactions to the Employment Situation Release for January
Here’s FoxBusiness’s web coverage of the employment release (around 4pm CT):
Alternative Business Cycle Indicators
The key indicators followed by the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, in light of today’s employment release, is discussed here. However, several alternative indicators have been proposed (some of dubious usefulness, like Vehicle Miles Traveled and gasoline consumption). Here’s a graph over the corresponding time period, normalized to 2022M11.
Business Cycle Indicators at the Beginning of February 2024
January NFP employment growth surprises on the upside (to say the least), at +353 vs. +187 consensus. On the back of monthly GDP and Q1 nowcasts, the economy seems to be continuing to grow apace.
Employment in January: Benchmark Revisions, Seasonality, Population Controls
The Employment Situation release for January 2024 incorporated annual benchmark revisions to establishment survey series, and reported population controls for the household survey series. NFP at +353 vs. +187 thousands Bloomberg consensus. (Last year at this time, NFP again surprised, at +517 thousand exceeding the Bloomberg consensus of +115 thousand.)