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  • Halloween Getting More Expensive

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The price of candy and chewing gum has increased 13% over the past year, see chart below.

    Source: BLS, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Weekend Reading

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    BoE: How broad-based is the increase in UK inflation?
    https://bankunderground.co.uk/2022/10/27/how-broad-based-is-the-increase-in-uk-inflation/

    Fed: Is China Running Out of Policy Space to Navigate Future Economic Challenges?
    https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/09/is-china-running-out-of-policy-space-to-navigate-future-economic-challenges/

    FSB: Liquidity in Core Government Bond Markets
    https://www.fsb.org/wp-content/uploads/P201022.pdf

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Slowdown Watch

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Weekly data shows that hotel demand is still very strong, see chart below. Our collection of daily and weekly indicators for the US economy is available here.

    Weekly data for hotel demand still strong
    Source: STR, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Inflation is Broad-Based

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The FOMC’s inflation target is 2%, and 83% of the components in the CPI basket are growing faster than 5%. Inflation is, unfortunately very broad-based, see chart below.

    83% percent of the US inflation basket is growing faster than 5%
    Note: Year-over-year growth used. Source: BLS, Haver, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • German Energy Consumption

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Firms in Germany are reducing their consumption of natural gas. The reduction is driven by slowing economic growth in Europe and substitution toward other sources of energy.

    Germany: Firms have reduced their natural gas consumption
    Source: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • The CPI Basket

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The CPI index used by the Fed and financial markets captures the spending habits of about 80 percent of the population of the United States. But spending patterns vary across different age groups. For example, older generations spend more on services such as housing and medical care, and less on goods including food, beverages, and apparel.

    To better understand these differences in spending patterns, the BLS calculates a CPI index looking at inflation for people age 62 and above. It shows that for older generations, inflation has for decades been higher because of higher inflation in services. But during the pandemic, when inflation on goods was very high, inflation for people age 62 and above has been relatively lower. With goods inflation coming down and service sector inflation still rising, we should expect more convergence between the two inflation measures going forward, a process which has already started in the chart below.

    Inflation has been higher for elderly population
    Source: BLS, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist. Note: It is calculated as the difference between CPI-E which is the CPI for 62 years and older and CPI-U which is for the total basket. Elderly spend more on housing, medical care and less on food & beverages, apparel, transportation, education and communication.

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Inflation Forecasts

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Inflation will be coming down over the coming quarters. This is what the Fed is predicting, that is what the consensus is expecting, and that is what we are predicting. The problem is that this has been the forecast ever since inflation started going up in April 2021, see chart below. Given how systematically wrong inflation forecasts have been over the past 18 months, there are good reasons to be cautious about the current forecast.

    The consensus has been systematically wrong about inflation coming down
    Source: Cleveland Fed, Bloomberg, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Fed vs. ECB and the Sources of Inflation

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The Fed will remain hawkish for longer than the ECB because European inflation is mainly driven by food and energy, see chart below. This is in contrast to US inflation, which is driven primarily by higher core inflation, see again the chart below.

    Euro area inflation is mainly food and energy
    Source: BEA, Eurostat, Haver Analytics, Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Weekend Reading

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    National energy policy responses to the energy crisis

    https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/national-energy-policy-responses-energy-crisis

    Fed: The Financial Stability Implications of Digital Assets

    https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr1034.pdf

    Fed: A New Measure of Consumers’ (In)Attention to Inflation

    https://www.clevelandfed.org/publications/economic-commentary/2022/ec-202214-a-new-measure-of-consumers-inattention-to-inflation

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


  • Slowdown Watch

    Torsten Sløk

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The number of people going to Broadway shows is rising, and the gap to 2019 continues to close, see chart below. Household balance sheets remain strong, job growth is still strong, and wage growth is strong, and indicators for air travel, hotel occupancy rates, restaurant bookings, and concerts continue to show that the consumer services sector is red hot, see also our attached PDF with daily and weekly indicators for the US economy.

    The Fed is raising interest rates to slow down growth, and so far, it is only the interest-rate sensitive components of GDP (housing, autos, capex) that are responding. The services sector makes up 80% of GDP, and it is not yet showing signs of slowing down.

    Chart showing plenty of people are still going to Broadway shows, a sign that the services sector is not slowing down despite Fed actions
    Source: Internet Broadway Database, Apollo Chief Economist

    See important disclaimers at the bottom of the page.


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