There was some clear relief in consumer inflation in October, which is a welcome development for households and policymakers alike. The headline consumer price index rose "just" 0.4% during the month, which was below the Bloomberg consensus expectation for a 0.6% gain and caused the yearago pace to fall back to 7.7%, or the lowest annual rate of inflation in nine months (chart). Core prices also rose a more muted 0.3% during the month as core goods prices declined 0.4% amid an easing in supply chain constraints, which have boosted retail inventories. Core services prices rose 0.5% during the month, which is still quite fast compared to the pre-pandemic run rate but a bit softer than we anticipated.
Overall, October's moderation in inflation is welcome, but with the core CPI up at an annualized rate of 5.8% between July and October, there remains a long way to go before inflation returns to a rate the Fed will tolerate. The way back down to the Committee's 2% inflation goal will also likely be bumpy with services inflation particularly difficult to stomp out. The October CPI report reduced the likelihood of another 75 bps rate hike in December, but we expect policymakers to remain biased toward overtightening rather than under-tightening for the foreseeable future.
The FOMC noted for the first time it will consider the cumulative degree of tightening and the lags inherent in monetary policy when deciding on future rate moves at its November policy meeting. Chair Powell also emphasized the Committee is not done tightening yet. We take this communication and the lower-than-expected gain in inflation as evidence that the Fed will continue to hike rates, but at a slower pace, and we forecast the FOMC will hike the federal funds rate by 50 bps at its next monetary policy meeting.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 15 January 2021
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Jan 18, 2021
Retail sales fell 0.7% in December, the third straight monthly decline. Sales are still up 2.9% over the year, however.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 01 July 2022
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Jul 14, 2022
As with the Mets and Yankees when they ran into the Astros over the last couple days, consumers staying power is showing signs of running out as inflation persists and confidence moves sharply lower.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 17 April 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Apr 18, 2020
Economic data from the early stages of the Great Shutdown have finally arrived, and they are as bad as feared. ‘Worst on record’ is about to become an all too common refrain in our commentary.
July 2020 Economy At A Glance
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Jul 30, 2020
The recent surge in COVID-19 cases indicates that elected officials re-opened the economy too soon, that too many Americans are flaunting social distancing guidelines, and that the virus is likely to be around longer than we’d hoped.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 11 December 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Dec 14, 2020
Emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine appears imminent, but the virus is running rampant across the United States today, pointing to a grim winter.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 16 August 2019
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Aug 17, 2019
Markets gyrated this week as the spread between the ten- and two-year Treasury\'s turned negative for the first time since 2007. Financial markets seem to expect that the sharp slowdown in growth overseas will soon spread to the United States.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 13 October 2023
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Oct 13, 2023
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% in September, a monthly change that was a bit softer than the 0.6% increase registered in August. The core CPI rose 0.3% during the month, a pace unchanged from the month prior.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 25 October 2019
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Oct 26, 2019
Sales of existing homes fell 2.2% to a 5.38 million-unit pace in September, but sales and prices were still up enough in the quarter that they will add solidly to Q3 GDP growth.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 24 July 2020
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Jul 25, 2020
Initial jobless claims rose to just over 1.4 million for the week ending July 18. Continuing claims fell to about 16.2 million. Initial claims edging higher suggests that the resurgence of COVID-19 may be taking a toll on the labor market recovery.
This Week's State Of The Economy - What Is Ahead? - 20 August 2021
Wells Fargo Economics & Financial Report / Aug 24, 2021
The Wells Fargo Economics team notes in the Commentary that new COVID cases in New Zealand disrupted the Reserve Bank of New Zealand\'s plan to tighten monetary policy this week.
