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Review: Ten Economic Questions for 2022
At the end of each year, I post Ten Economic Questions for the following year (2022). I followed up with a brief post on each question. Here is review (we don’t have all data yet, but enough). I’ve linked to my posts from the beginning of the year, w…
I don't have a crystal ball, but I think it helps to outline what I think will happen - and understand - and change my mind, when the outlook is wrong. As an example, when the pandemic hit, I switched from being mostly positive on the economy to calling a recession in early March 2020.
10) Question #10 for 2022: Will inventory increase as the pandemic subsides, or will inventory decrease further in 2022?
"The bottom line is inventory will probably set new record lows over the next couple of months, and then inventory will likely increase YoY later in the year. However, it seems unlikely that inventory will be back up to the 2017 - 2019 levels. Inventory is always something to watch!"
Here is a graph from Realtor.com showing active inventory through November 2022.
As expected, inventory hit new record lows early in 2022, and is finishing the year up significantly year-over-year - but not close to the 2017 - 2019 levels.
Note: The NAR reported inventory was up 2.7% year-over-year in November compared to November 2021. This appears to include some pending sales and doesn’t match some other measures of inventory (Altos and Realtor.com).
9) Question #9 for 2022: What will happen with house prices in 2022?
"[B]ased on my inventory forecast and further progress with the pandemic, my guess is that year-over-year price increases will probably be the strongest early in the year, and then soften towards the end of 2022. Price appreciation will decrease from the unsustainable 2021 pace but seems likely to still be in the mid-to-high single digit range in 2022."This was mostly correct. The year-over-year change in the Case-Shiller index peaked in March 2022, and then softened as the year progressed.
As of September, the National Case-Shiller index SA was up 10.6% year-over-year. (Case-Shiller for October will be released tomorrow).
House prices are now falling month-to-month, but it appears prices will still be up mid-single digits in December.
8) Question #8 for 2022: Housing Credit: Will we see easier mortgage lending in 2022?
"Mortgage equity withdrawal will probably decline in 2022, since fewer homeowners will refinance their mortgages. However, there is some concern about banks easing lending standards, and the rapid increase in non-QM loans. This will be something to watch in 2022, but overall lending is still solid (unlike during the housing bubble)."Mortgage equity withdrawal was surprising still solid in 2022 as homeowners switched from refinancing existing mortgages to using home equity loans (2nd loans) to extract equity from their homes.
7) Question #7 for 2022: How much will Residential investment change in 2022? How about housing starts and new home sales in 2022?
"My guess is starts will be down low-to-mid single digits year-over-year in 2022. New home sales could pick up solidly if existing home inventory stays low, supply issues are resolved, and mortgage rates stay low, but my guess is new home sales will be mostly unchanged year-over-year."Through November, total starts, year-to-date, were down 1.2% compared to the same period in 2021. New home sales were down 15.2% compared to the same period in 2021. Starts were as expected, but new home sales were down as mortgage rates increased quicker than expected.
6) Question #6 for 2022: Will the Fed raise rates in 2022? If so, how many times?
"Currently I expect asset purchases to end as planned in March, and the 1st rate hike to happen at the March meeting, and perhaps a 2nd hike in June. Subsequent rate hikes will depend on the course of the pandemic, inflation and employment, but 3 rate hikes in 2022 seem likely."Huge miss. Inflation was much higher than I expected, and the Fed raised rates far more the expected.
5) Question #5 for 2022: Will the core inflation rate increase or decrease by December 2022?
"The pandemic was the cause of the inflation spike, with supply constraints, a shifting of demand from services to goods, large fiscal transfers, and a smaller labor force pushing up wages. If the pandemic eases, I expect these pressures to ease. My guess is core PCE inflation (year-over-year) will decrease in 2022 (from the current 4.7%), and I think core PCE inflation will be at or below 3% by the end of 2022."According to the November Personal Income and Outlays report, the November PCE price index increased 5.5 percent year-over-year and the November PCE price index, excluding food and energy, increased 4.7 percent year-over-year. Inflation was higher than expected but has been slowing recently.
4) Question #4 for 2022: Will the overall participation rate increase to pre-pandemic levels (63.4% in February 2020)?
"My guess, based on the impact of the pandemic easing, is that most of these people will return to the labor force. I don't expect that participation rate to increase to pre-pandemic levels (63.4%), but it seems reasonable the participation rate will increase to the mid 62s by year end, before trending down again later in the decade."This was mostly correct. The Labor Force Participation Rate was at 62.1% in November.
3) Question #3 for 2022: What will the unemployment rate be in December 2022?
"Depending on the estimate for the participation rate and job growth (next question), my guess is the unemployment rate will decline into the mid 3% range by December 2022 from the current 4.2%."The unemployment rates was at 3.7% in November.
2) Question #2 for 2022: Will the remaining jobs lost in 2020 return in 2022, or will job growth be sluggish?
"My guess is something like 2.5 to 3.0 million jobs could be added in 2022, but it will depend on the pandemic (and policy). This fits with my view of sluggish labor force growth, an increase in the participation rate, and a decline in the unemployment rate. That would mean there are still fewer jobs at the end of 2022, than before the pandemic."As of the November employed report, the year-over-year change was +4.9 million jobs - well above my guess.
This graph shows the job losses from the start of the employment recession, in percentage terms.
The current employment recession was by far the worst recession since WWII in percentage terms.
1) Question #1 for 2022: How much will the economy grow in 2022?
"My sense is growth will slow in 2022 noticeably. Some sectors, like vehicle sales, will pick up since vehicle sales were supply constrained in 2021. Other sectors will continue to recover (like travel related) and service sectors. However, some goods sectors will likely decline, and real estate will likely be mostly flat in 2022. Also, fiscal and monetary supply will give less of a boost in 2022. My guess is the real GDP growth will probably be in the 2.5% to 3.5% range in 2022."It now appears GDP growth will be under 1% in 2022.
My biggest misses were on inflation (and Fed policy), GDP (too optimistic) and employment (too pessimistic).
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Comments on February Employment Report
The headline jobs number in the February employment report was above expectations; however, December and January payrolls were revised down by 167,000 combined. The participation rate was unchanged, the employment population ratio decreased, and the …
Prime (25 to 54 Years Old) Participation
Since the overall participation rate is impacted by both cyclical (recession) and demographic (aging population, younger people staying in school) reasons, here is the employment-population ratio for the key working age group: 25 to 54 years old.
The 25 to 54 years old participation rate increased in February to 83.5% from 83.3% in January, and the 25 to 54 employment population ratio increased to 80.7% from 80.6% the previous month.
Average Hourly Wages
The graph shows the nominal year-over-year change in "Average Hourly Earnings" for all private employees from the Current Employment Statistics (CES).
Wage growth has trended down after peaking at 5.9% YoY in March 2022 and was at 4.3% YoY in February.
Part Time for Economic Reasons
From the BLS report:
"The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.4 million, changed little in February. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs."The number of persons working part time for economic reasons decreased in February to 4.36 million from 4.42 million in February. This is slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
These workers are included in the alternate measure of labor underutilization (U-6) that increased to 7.3% from 7.2% in the previous month. This is down from the record high in April 2020 of 23.0% and up from the lowest level on record (seasonally adjusted) in December 2022 (6.5%). (This series started in 1994). This measure is above the 7.0% level in February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
Unemployed over 26 Weeks
This graph shows the number of workers unemployed for 27 weeks or more.
According to the BLS, there are 1.203 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks and still want a job, down from 1.277 million the previous month.
This is close to pre-pandemic levels.
Job Streak
Headline Jobs, Top 10 Streaks | ||
---|---|---|
Year Ended | Streak, Months | |
1 | 2019 | 100 |
2 | 1990 | 48 |
3 | 2007 | 46 |
4 | 1979 | 45 |
5 | 20241 | 38 |
6 tie | 1943 | 33 |
6 tie | 1986 | 33 |
6 tie | 2000 | 33 |
9 | 1967 | 29 |
10 | 1995 | 25 |
1Currrent Streak |
Summary:
The headline monthly jobs number was above consensus expectations; however, December and January payrolls were revised down by 167,000 combined. The participation rate was unchanged, the employment population ratio decreased, and the unemployment rate was increased to 3.9%. Another solid report.
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Immune cells can adapt to invading pathogens, deciding whether to fight now or prepare for the next battle
When faced with a threat, T cells have the decision-making flexibility to both clear out the pathogen now and ready themselves for a future encounter.
How does your immune system decide between fighting invading pathogens now or preparing to fight them in the future? Turns out, it can change its mind.
Every person has 10 million to 100 million unique T cells that have a critical job in the immune system: patrolling the body for invading pathogens or cancerous cells to eliminate. Each of these T cells has a unique receptor that allows it to recognize foreign proteins on the surface of infected or cancerous cells. When the right T cell encounters the right protein, it rapidly forms many copies of itself to destroy the offending pathogen.
Importantly, this process of proliferation gives rise to both short-lived effector T cells that shut down the immediate pathogen attack and long-lived memory T cells that provide protection against future attacks. But how do T cells decide whether to form cells that kill pathogens now or protect against future infections?
We are a team of bioengineers studying how immune cells mature. In our recently published research, we found that having multiple pathways to decide whether to kill pathogens now or prepare for future invaders boosts the immune system’s ability to effectively respond to different types of challenges.
Fight or remember?
To understand when and how T cells decide to become effector cells that kill pathogens or memory cells that prepare for future infections, we took movies of T cells dividing in response to a stimulus mimicking an encounter with a pathogen.
Specifically, we tracked the activity of a gene called T cell factor 1, or TCF1. This gene is essential for the longevity of memory cells. We found that stochastic, or probabilistic, silencing of the TCF1 gene when cells confront invading pathogens and inflammation drives an early decision between whether T cells become effector or memory cells. Exposure to higher levels of pathogens or inflammation increases the probability of forming effector cells.
Surprisingly, though, we found that some effector cells that had turned off TCF1 early on were able to turn it back on after clearing the pathogen, later becoming memory cells.
Through mathematical modeling, we determined that this flexibility in decision making among memory T cells is critical to generating the right number of cells that respond immediately and cells that prepare for the future, appropriate to the severity of the infection.
Understanding immune memory
The proper formation of persistent, long-lived T cell memory is critical to a person’s ability to fend off diseases ranging from the common cold to COVID-19 to cancer.
From a social and cognitive science perspective, flexibility allows people to adapt and respond optimally to uncertain and dynamic environments. Similarly, for immune cells responding to a pathogen, flexibility in decision making around whether to become memory cells may enable greater responsiveness to an evolving immune challenge.
Memory cells can be subclassified into different types with distinct features and roles in protective immunity. It’s possible that the pathway where memory cells diverge from effector cells early on and the pathway where memory cells form from effector cells later on give rise to particular subtypes of memory cells.
Our study focuses on T cell memory in the context of acute infections the immune system can successfully clear in days, such as cold, the flu or food poisoning. In contrast, chronic conditions such as HIV and cancer require persistent immune responses; long-lived, memory-like cells are critical for this persistence. Our team is investigating whether flexible memory decision making also applies to chronic conditions and whether we can leverage that flexibility to improve cancer immunotherapy.
Resolving uncertainty surrounding how and when memory cells form could help improve vaccine design and therapies that boost the immune system’s ability to provide long-term protection against diverse infectious diseases.
Kathleen Abadie was funded by a NSF (National Science Foundation) Graduate Research Fellowships. She performed this research in affiliation with the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering.
Elisa Clark performed her research in affiliation with the University of Washington (UW) Department of Bioengineering and was funded by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP) and by a predoctoral fellowship through the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM).
Hao Yuan Kueh receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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Stock indexes are breaking records and crossing milestones – making many investors feel wealthier
The S&P 500 topped 5,000 on Feb. 9, 2024, for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average will probably hit a new big round number soon t…
The S&P 500 stock index topped 5,000 for the first time on Feb. 9, 2024, exciting some investors and garnering a flurry of media coverage. The Conversation asked Alexander Kurov, a financial markets scholar, to explain what stock indexes are and to say whether this kind of milestone is a big deal or not.
What are stock indexes?
Stock indexes measure the performance of a group of stocks. When prices rise or fall overall for the shares of those companies, so do stock indexes. The number of stocks in those baskets varies, as does the system for how this mix of shares gets updated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, also known as the Dow, includes shares in the 30 U.S. companies with the largest market capitalization – meaning the total value of all the stock belonging to shareholders. That list currently spans companies from Apple to Walt Disney Co.
The S&P 500 tracks shares in 500 of the largest U.S. publicly traded companies.
The Nasdaq composite tracks performance of more than 2,500 stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The DJIA, launched on May 26, 1896, is the oldest of these three popular indexes, and it was one of the first established.
Two enterprising journalists, Charles H. Dow and Edward Jones, had created a different index tied to the railroad industry a dozen years earlier. Most of the 12 stocks the DJIA originally included wouldn’t ring many bells today, such as Chicago Gas and National Lead. But one company that only got booted in 2018 had stayed on the list for 120 years: General Electric.
The S&P 500 index was introduced in 1957 because many investors wanted an option that was more representative of the overall U.S. stock market. The Nasdaq composite was launched in 1971.
You can buy shares in an index fund that mirrors a particular index. This approach can diversify your investments and make them less prone to big losses.
Index funds, which have only existed since Vanguard Group founder John Bogle launched the first one in 1976, now hold trillions of dollars .
Why are there so many?
There are hundreds of stock indexes in the world, but only about 50 major ones.
Most of them, including the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500, are value-weighted. That means stocks with larger market values account for a larger share of the index’s performance.
In addition to these broad-based indexes, there are many less prominent ones. Many of those emphasize a niche by tracking stocks of companies in specific industries like energy or finance.
Do these milestones matter?
Stock prices move constantly in response to corporate, economic and political news, as well as changes in investor psychology. Because company profits will typically grow gradually over time, the market usually fluctuates in the short term, while increasing in value over the long term.
The DJIA first reached 1,000 in November 1972, and it crossed the 10,000 mark on March 29, 1999. On Jan. 22, 2024, it surpassed 38,000 for the first time. Investors and the media will treat the new record set when it gets to another round number – 40,000 – as a milestone.
The S&P 500 index had never hit 5,000 before. But it had already been breaking records for several weeks.
Because there’s a lot of randomness in financial markets, the significance of round-number milestones is mostly psychological. There is no evidence they portend any further gains.
For example, the Nasdaq composite first hit 5,000 on March 10, 2000, at the end of the dot-com bubble.
The index then plunged by almost 80% by October 2002. It took 15 years – until March 3, 2015 – for it return to 5,000.
By mid-February 2024, the Nasdaq composite was nearing its prior record high of 16,057 set on Nov. 19, 2021.
Index milestones matter to the extent they pique investors’ attention and boost market sentiment.
Investors afflicted with a fear of missing out may then invest more in stocks, pushing stock prices to new highs. Chasing after stock trends may destabilize markets by moving prices away from their underlying values.
When a stock index passes a new milestone, investors become more aware of their growing portfolios. Feeling richer can lead them to spend more.
This is called the wealth effect. Many economists believe that the consumption boost that arises in response to a buoyant stock market can make the economy stronger.
Is there a best stock index to follow?
Not really. They all measure somewhat different things and have their own quirks.
For example, the S&P 500 tracks many different industries. However, because it is value-weighted, it’s heavily influenced by only seven stocks with very large market values.
Known as the “Magnificent Seven,” shares in Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla now account for over one-fourth of the S&P 500’s value. Nearly all are in the tech sector, and they played a big role in pushing the S&P across the 5,000 mark.
This makes the index more concentrated on a single sector than it appears.
But if you check out several stock indexes rather than just one, you’ll get a good sense of how the market is doing. If they’re all rising quickly or breaking records, that’s a clear sign that the market as a whole is gaining.
Sometimes the smartest thing is to not pay too much attention to any of them.
For example, after hitting record highs on Feb. 19, 2020, the S&P 500 plunged by 34% in just 23 trading days due to concerns about what COVID-19 would do to the economy. But the market rebounded, with stock indexes hitting new milestones and notching new highs by the end of that year.
Panicking in response to short-term market swings would have made investors more likely to sell off their investments in too big a hurry – a move they might have later regretted. This is why I believe advice from the immensely successful investor and fan of stock index funds Warren Buffett is worth heeding.
Buffett, whose stock-selecting prowess has made him one of the world’s 10 richest people, likes to say “Don’t watch the market closely.”
If you’re reading this because stock prices are falling and you’re wondering if you should be worried about that, consider something else Buffett has said: “The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow.”
And the opposite is true as well.
Alexander Kurov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
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