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Employment down, savings up, and an uncertain summer for the U.S. economy
June is here.
And as summer has arrives across the country, so too does something resembling a resumption of economic activity.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="We’ve noted recently that economic data has stopped getting worse, building the case that the most severe impacts of the lockdown-related economic stoppage are behind us.” data-reactid=”22″>We’ve noted recently that economic data has stopped getting worse, building the case that the most severe impacts of the lockdown-related economic stoppage are behind us.
But this still leaves the economy a long way from healed.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="As Bank of America outlined in a note last month, the current recovery is likely to play out in three phases: lockdown, transition, recovery. We are now in the transition phase. But what this phase might look like continues to be informed by some of the jarring data coming out of the economy’s March-April lockdown phase.” data-reactid=”24″>As Bank of America outlined in a note last month, the current recovery is likely to play out in three phases: lockdown, transition, recovery. We are now in the transition phase. But what this phase might look like continues to be informed by some of the jarring data coming out of the economy’s March-April lockdown phase.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="What we know is that tens of millions of workers have lost jobs. Last Thursday, initial jobless claims data brought total filings for unemployment insurance since this crisis began to north of 40 million.” data-reactid=”25″>What we know is that tens of millions of workers have lost jobs. Last Thursday, initial jobless claims data brought total filings for unemployment insurance since this crisis began to north of 40 million.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="And on Friday, the April data on personal income, outlays, and savings served as another stunning entry in the history books. In response to mass unemployment, we know that consumers saved at a record rate, cut spending at a record rate, and saw incomes rise due to enhanced unemployment benefits passed through the CARES Act.” data-reactid=”26″>And on Friday, the April data on personal income, outlays, and savings served as another stunning entry in the history books. In response to mass unemployment, we know that consumers saved at a record rate, cut spending at a record rate, and saw incomes rise due to enhanced unemployment benefits passed through the CARES Act.
Taken together, this data really tells the simplest story of what happened in the U.S. economy during the most severe stage of this crisis — millions of people lost jobs and saved every penny they could as a result. How we go forward from here will be informed by fiscal policy, the spread of the virus, and how many workers are re-employed quickly.
“Consumer spending fell off a cliff in April, collapsing by 13.6% [month-over-month] while the annual momentum plunged to its weakest pace on record,” Lydia Boussour, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note to clients. “Meanwhile greater benefit payments temporarily lifted income momentum to its strongest pace on record.”
The CARES Act boosted personal income in April while spending rose at a record pace amid massive job losses during the most severe stage of shelter-at-home policies hurting economic activity. (Source: Oxford Economics)
Boussour added that, “Amid extreme uncertainty, the savings rate spiked from 12.7% to 33.0% — the highest rate ever. This underscores how the global coronavirus recession is leading to more frugal consumer behavior which will dampen the recovery. This is particularly true as the boost from social benefits will gradually erode over time leaving households more financially constrained.”
And so it seems that Congress was able to keep U.S. consumers afloat while shelter-at-home policies and fears about the future kept most of those excess dollars coming into consumer stashed away. Savings during this initial phase of the pandemic and the recession could, it seems, help boost the economy into the second half of the year.
Michael Gapen at Barclays said in a note published Friday that, “under the assumption households have not spent the entirety of safety net payments already, the potential good news in the report on April personal income is that households have, on net, likely accumulated sizeable cash savings that could be spent in upcoming quarters should the U.S. economy successfully emerge from economic lockdowns.”
April’s personal income and spending data, then, serves as evidence of the consumer holding what amounts to economic dry powder as we emerge from shelter-at-home policies.
How quickly the labor market heals, however, is likely to be more important in shaping how eager consumers are to resume consumption in the months ahead.
<p class="canvas-atom canvas-text Mb(1.0em) Mb(0)–sm Mt(0.8em)–sm" type="text" content="This coming Friday, the May jobs report is expected to show the unemployment rate rose to 19.6% last month with another 8 million Americans losing their jobs, according to estimates from Bloomberg. In the view of some economists, the stubbornly high level of initial jobless claims shows that businesses which initially closed on a temporary basis early in this crisis are now closing permanently.” data-reactid=”45″>This coming Friday, the May jobs report is expected to show the unemployment rate rose to 19.6% last month with another 8 million Americans losing their jobs, according to estimates from Bloomberg. In the view of some economists, the stubbornly high level of initial jobless claims shows that businesses which initially closed on a temporary basis early in this crisis are now closing permanently.
The more time that passes without answers for businesses and consumers, the more these temporary disruptions become permanent. Which is the whole story of the “transition” economy and the summer of 2020 — how many temporary changes can be prevented from becoming permanent.
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
