Marko Bjegovic Profile picture
Jun 2, 2023 11 tweets 6 min read Read on X
May employment report came in mixed with both NFP and UR increasing.

Again, no Wall Street analyst came nowhere close to guessing the headline number with the highest estimate missing it by 129K.

What does that all mean for the #Fed?

A thread.

1/11
NFP rose for the 29th M in a row with +339K which is 149K above consensus (+190K).

Apr number was revised up by 41K from +253K to +294K.

Total gain in Apr and May is +633K, 190K higher than expected (+443K).

#employment

2/11
At the same time UR jumped from 3.4% (cycle low) to 3.7%, the highest since Feb 2022 and the same as in Aug and Oct 2022.

#unemployment

3/11 Image
0.3 pp jump in UR is highly intriguing.

It is literally the highest jump in UR since Apr 2020 when the #economy was in a deep #recession caused by lockdowns.

Before that we had 1M jumps of that magnitude in 2008, before that in 2001... you get the pattern.

#unemployment

4/11 Image
In the details, gains were almost across the board with only manufacturing and IT recording net layoffs.

There was a noticeable pick-up in construction, transportation, education and health, leisure and hospitality, and government.

#employment

5/11 Image
AHE were up +0.3% or +3.96% annualized while Apr was revised down from +0.5% or +5.8% annualized to +0.4% or +4.7% annualized.

As I expected a M ago, they did end up revising Apr number down.



6/11 Image
AHE is now closer to where the #Fed wants it to be, maybe a still a bit above the desired level.

However, there is a possibility we end up seeing further downside revisions in AHE sometime in the M ahead.

7/11 Image
What does that all mean for the #Fed?

This report supports a pause bc +0.3 pp upside in UR can be worrisome, especially if it persists.

As I explained in my macro/market analyses (Marko's Brain Daily),

I don't think the #Fed will use this report when deciding rates.

8/11
Still, I think they will pause in 2W due to some other reasons mostly related to balancing a tricky path trying not to break anything in the coming W and M.

Now we come to the most important Q of them all - what will the #Fed do later in the year?

9/11
These threads take a lot of time and effort to make.

If you like the content, please love and retweet tweets in this thread to help me spread the message.

Thank you!

10/11
I'm currently writing my premium

Marko's Fed Report

where I'll, among other things, offer a detailed overview of the #Fed's actions going forward as well as when will the MP lags finally bite into the economy.

If you want to get it, message me.

11/11 Image

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More from @MBjegovic

Jun 8
By now, you've likely seen various reactions to Friday's Employment Report.

However, I'm sure you will love what you're about to see here.

Let's dig into the details.

An employment thread.

1/12
Nonfarm payrolls came in at +139K, while the 3MMA is +135K.

This still looks pretty good, right?

Wrong.

Explanation follows.

2/12Image
Negative revisions persist.

In 16 months since Jan 2024, nonfarm payrolls have been revised down by a total of -796K or -50K per month on average.

If we apply the average monthly negative revision, the May number drops to +89K.

This still looks ok-ish, but it also doesn't include the likely negative annual revisions.

3/12Image
Read 12 tweets
Jun 4
May #ADP Employment came in at +37K, well below expectations of +115K.

These numbers might as well be recessionary.

I'll explain why in a thread.

I will also explain what these numbers might mean for Friday's Employment Report.

1/8
At +37K, the #ADP Employment is now the weakest since Mar 2023.

2/8Image
In the details, half of the sectors had negative job growth, with professional and business services (-17K) and education and health services (-13K) showing the most job losses.

OTOH, leisure and hospitality (+38K) and financial activities (+20K) created the most jobs in May.

The goods sector lost -2K jobs on net, while the whole job growth came from the services sector (+36K).

Likely due to rounding, the sum of sector figures (34K) is lower than the reported headline number (37K).

3/8Image
Read 8 tweets
Jan 16
I've been extremely busy lately (even more than normal) so I'm a bit late to address the Dec #CPI.

On the surface, it looks like a mixed report but the details reveal extremely cool numbers with some important multi-year lows.

More about it in my CPI thread.

1/10
Dec #CPI was mostly in line with my estimates except headline CPI MoM, which I suspect will be revised closer to my estimates.

Headline
+0.39% MoM, +8 bps above my +0.31% estimate (I suspect will get revised down closer to my estimate)
+2.89% YoY, +2 bps above my +2.87% estimate

Core
+0.23% MoM, exactly in line with my +0.23% estimate
+3.24% YoY, -5 bps cooler than my +3.29% estimate

My Dec CPI estimates were published on Substack prior to the official release and can be found at this link (no paywall): arkominaresearch.substack.com/p/dec-2024-cpi…

#inflation

2/10
Headline #CPI went up +0.39% MoM, which is the first +0.4% MoM read since Q1 2024.

However, on an NSA basis, it was barely positive (+0.03% MoM), so SA added +36 bps, 6 bps more than in Dec 2023.

Is there really sth that would suggest a 20% higher SA in Dec 2024 vs Dec 2023?

I don't think so.

Then who knows?

Maybe in 3 weeks, we will no longer look at +0.4% figures for Dec 2024...

#inflation

3/10Image
Read 10 tweets
Dec 12, 2024
Nov #CPI came in line with expectations ydy, but both headline and core printed at +0.3% MoM.

Some have suggested that #inflation is picking back up, but that's not true.

Inflation is much lower than pre-2020.

I'll explain why in a CPI thread.

1/10
My Nov #CPI estimates were:

Headline CPI
+0.28% MoM, -3 bps below the actual +0.31%
+2.72% YoY, -3 bps below the actual +2.75%

Core CPI
+0.35% MoM, +4 bps above the actual +0.31%
+3.36% YoY, +4 bps above the actual +3.32%

You can check them out at this link (no paywall):

#inflation

2/10arkominaresearch.substack.com/p/nov-2024-cpi…
Headline #CPI went up from +2.6% to +2.7% YoY (+2.75% almost got rounded to +2.8%), while +0.3% MoM is the highest (and first above +0.2%) read in 7 months.

The only reasons why we didn't get +0.2% headline and +0.1% core are Shelter and SA.

Let me explain.

#inflation

3/10Image
Read 10 tweets
Dec 9, 2024
I'm a bit late in analyzing the Nov Employment Report, but I think you'll find what I'm about to share quite interesting.

While +227K NFP and 4.2% UR appear strong, there is much more underlying weakness than the headline figures indicate.

I'll explain why in this thread.

1/11
NFP came in at +227K, a bit higher than expected (+200K consensus) which seems pretty strong.

At the same time, Oct was revised up from +12K to +36K.

Oct was heavily disrupted by the weather, and now it seems the number is slightly higher than initially reported, which is what I assumed would happen (x.com/MBjegovic/stat…).

The 2-month avg is currently +132K, slightly weaker than the 6-month avg of +153K before Oct.

One can conclude that the job gains are weakening but not falling off a cliff.

However, the numbers are likely notably weaker than that.

If we factor in that in 12 months ending in Mar 2024, payrolls were overstated by 818K or 68K p/mth on avg, and assume the same thing happened from Apr 2024 onwards, suddenly +64K on average in Oct and Nov doesn't look nearly as strong.

2/11Image
In 2024 the NFP has been mostly revised downward by an avg of -35K p/mth.

If we assume that Oct remains at +36K, but Nov gets revised down by the YTD avg, we could be looking at an even slightly lower 2-month average of +114K.

Then again, if we factor in payrolls being overstated by an avg 68K p/mth, +46K on avg in Oct and Nov doesn't look too compelling.

This would certainly be more in line with the latest #Fed Beige Book, which stated that "employment levels were flat or up only slightly", than the current +227K NFP number for Nov.

3/11Image
Read 11 tweets
Nov 14, 2024
Oct #CPI yesterday came in line with market expectations.

After seeing both headline and core CPI rise YoY some concluded that the #inflation progress has stalled or that inflation is picking back up.

None of that is true.

Here is why.

A CPI thread.

1/12
Compared to my estimates Oct #CPI was:

Headline
+0.24% MoM, +4 bps above my estimate
+2.60% YoY, +5 bps above my estimate

Core
+0.28% MoM, +2 bps above my estimate
+3.33% YoY, -2 bps below my estimate

My Oct CPI estimates were published 2 days before
the actual CPI print and are available (no paywall) at this link:

2/12open.substack.com/pub/arkominare…
Headline #CPI came in at +0.24% MoM, the highest MoM read in 6 months, but still enough to be rounded to +0.2% and even below what was typical pre-2020.

#inflation

3/12Image
Read 12 tweets

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