Commentary Directory
- Q1 GDP Growth Jumps 1.1% on Strong Personal Consumption
- A Strong March Leads to a Surge in Chinese GDP in Q1 2023
- Durable Goods Retail Sales Suffer from High Interest Rates and Wary Consumers
- Choppy GDP Means UK Should Avoid Q1 Recession
- Japanese Consumer Confidence Jumps to Highest Level in Over a Year
- The End of Summer Sees the End of Disinflation in Europe
- Labor Market Indicators are Starting to Unify on Easing in Hiring
- Inflation and Tight Financial Conditions Weigh on the German Consumer
- Euro Area Money Supply Contracts for the First Time Since 2010
- Dismal Economic Data Out of Germany
- Core Durable Goods New Orders See Gentle Uptrend in July
- More UK Data Pointing to Q3 Decline
- Whispers of a UK Contraction in Q3
- Japan's Core Inflation Resumes Uptrend in July
- Early July Economic Data Leads to a Sharp Increase in Q3 Growth Expectations
- UK CPI: Energy Inflation Crashes but Services Inflation is Still Sticky
- China's Weak Start to Q3 Means More PBoC Easing
- Bank of Japan is Too Optimistic on Inflation
- The Bank of England Pauses in a Near Split Decision
- UK Inflation August Update: A Precursor to the Bank of England's Announcement
- Housing Starts Tumble in August Amid Rising Mortgage Rates
- US Retail Sales Grow at Fastest Monthly Rate Since the Start of the Year
- US Consumer Prices Surge in August Driven by Energy Costs
- August NFIB Survey Showed a Tough Environment for Small Businesses
- All Signs Point to a Weaker Labor Market in August
- Thoughts on GME and This Week in the Stock Market
- Record Home Price Levels Point to Strength in Post-Pandemic Economy
- The Stock Market Looks Overvalued, but It's Probably Not
- China GDP Growth Surpasses Expectations
- President-elect Joe Biden Introduces His "American Rescue Plan"
- Political Polarization Intensifies with Another Impeachment Along Party Lines
- Metal Demand Has a Bright Future in 2021 and Beyond
- What Happened to That US-China Trade Dispute?
- Civil Unrest, A Rising Threat to the 2021 Economy
- What's in the $900 Billion Relief Plan?
Inflation Has Eased Somewhat, but There is Still Work to be Done
Jacob Hess
February 01, 2023
- Fed
- Monetary Policy
The Federal Reserve increased the target range of the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.5-4.75% in what many believe will be the second to last rate hike of this hiking cycle. This size was pretty much priced in by markets, and recent economic data had done little to sway the opinions of investors and Fed officials alike.
As a result, the bond market has already started to shape itself for a Fed pivot with the 2-year Treasury note looking to retest the 4% level, and the 3-year note moving comfortablely below it to around 3.8%. This represents about 50 to 75 basis points worth of cuts from the current lower bound of the target range. While these cuts may not come in 2023, there is very little pushback against the idea that a weak economy this year will preclude lower policy rates in 2024.
The Fed started off the press release with a slight acknowledgment of this sentiment by changing the brief phrase “inflation remains elevated” to “inflation has eased somewhat but remains elevated” which is an important admission that they are winning the fight against rising prices. This alone is a fairly dovish statement as the Fed has already positioned itself as “data-dependent” which means its actions are likely to be sensitive to observations like this. However, it does not necessarily mean that a pivot is coming soon.
Chair Powell in his press conference did everything he could to make sure that observers would not mistake the slowing of the pace in rate hikes and the slight admission that inflation has eased for a Fed pivot or even a Fed pause. In the speech, Powell made three very clear assertions that hiking is not over and that there is “more work to do.” The rhetoric is very clearly aimed at preventing the premature loosening of financial conditions which would soften the effects of tighter monetary policy. According to the Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index, the financial conditions have generally loosened since October 2022 which is counterproductive to the Fed’s intentions. Recent trends in short-term interest rates have been the culprit.

The moral of the story is that the job is not done yet. Powell did a good job of summarizing the work that still needs to be done to cool the economy to the desired level. “Labor demand substantially exceeds the supply of available workers, and the labor force participation rate has changed little from a year ago” which is importantly keeping wage inflation sticky. Some have pointed to some cooling in the Q4 2022 Employment Cost Index release as evidence that we can stop worrying about wage inflation, but there are way too many job openings, especially after we found out that 600,000 were added in December. The “higher for longer” narrative is the way that the Fed will likely go as it avoids cutting rates in 2023 despite growth challenges.