Wages

If the next month delivers either another round of soft inflation data, or a weak jobs report, the FOMC should be prepared to deliver a cut in July. If they continue to delay beginning rate cuts to gain certainty, they should consider a 50 bps cut for their first cut.

The totality of the evidence points more towards a cooling (but still good!) labor market than heating up, despite the payroll prints.

The data is consistent with those hoping for a soft landing—and soft landing cuts.

This is overall a good jobs report. Job growth is solid, and there are no obvious signs of weakness.

After what appeared to be (on the surface and at first glance) a hot January, the labor market data for February 2024 signaled a return to the narrative we followed throughout last year: the labor market is slowing, but remains strong.

In December, the labor market risks shifted further over towards unemployment.

After a somewhat worrying October report, November’s labor market data shows lower recession risk.

Summary Amidst all of the understandable concern with inflation and recession risks, the evidence continues to foretell a welcome inflection point on the horizon—a rare procyclical upturn in productivity growth. We continue to see signs that a maturing labor market—in which employment rates fully recover from recessionary damage