How close are the US labor markets to normalization?

As discussed here back in April, US labor markets continue to heal, with Friday's payrolls gains putting 2014 on track to be the best year for job growth since the late 90s. Now many are asking just how far is the employment situation from "normalizing". Of course it all depends on the metrics used. The chart below for example shows that the headline unemployment rate is now well within the normal range (based on long-term historical data).

Source: Credit Suisse

But as we know, that's only part of the story. A broader gauge of unemployment, the so-called U-6 rate, which includes marginally attached workers and those employed part time for economic reasons, suggests the labor markets have some room for improvement.

Within the U-6 metric it is particularly important to track the percentage of those employed part time for economic reasons. The current number of these workers (at just over 4.5% of the labor force) is not unusual by historical standards but is still quite elevated. It's not at all clear however if we are ever returning to the lows of the decade that preceded the Great Recession.

Another measure of labor markets' health is an estimate of the "job finding rate" from Credit Suisse. At least based on the data since 1990 (which may not be a sufficiently long range), that metric is currently far below average. We do see signs of significant improvements recently but the red line in the chart below may no longer be our target for what is "normal".

Source: Credit Suisse

We've also seen a great deal of focus on falling US labor force participation rate. The non-demographic component of the post-08 declines in participation rate is of particular importance. How much is due to aging US population vs. the discouraged workers exiting the labor force?

Source: Credit Suisse

There are hints that the non-demographic decline in participation has been halted, albeit at a relatively low level. The fact that the non-demographic participation level has fallen doesn't say much about what it will take to return to "normal". That's because the pre-recession housing bubble had generated unsustainable demand for labor (particularly unskilled labor). That demand isn't coming back any time soon as we look to establish the "new normal" in participation rate. We also see other factors impacting participation such as more disability claims and higher college enrollment rates.

Finally we want to take a look at wage growth as an indicator of demand for labor. Wage growth in the US remains remarkably steady, anchored at 2% per year. While this growth is certainly weak relative to recent history, it is quite respectable relative to other developed economies. Once again, how far is wage gowth away from "normal"? Most economists believe that if payrolls continue to increase at the current pace, wage growth will improve. Perhaps. But we are unlikely to see sustained wage growth at levels the US experienced prior to the recession. Given weaker wage inflation globally (and wage deflation in a number of EU states), the 2% or slightly higher may be the new "normal".

While many continue to insist that we are years away from normal labor markets in the US, it may be time to adjust our expectations. We could be much closer to the "new normal" than we had hoped.


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Banks' LCR-based demand for treasuries moderates

One of the factors contributing to treasury market's strong performance this year has been the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR), a Basel III-based requirement for banks. These rules go into effect in 2015 and are phased in gradually through 2017 in the United States (the implementation period is longer in some countries). LCR requires that banks hold sufficient amounts of liquid assets to withstand a significant loss of funding sources (such as depositors withdrawing). This need for liquid assets has resulted in banks accumulating treasuries - which they've ramped up to record levels this year - and to a lesser extent GSE debt.

One would expect banks to buy treasury bills or short-term notes to meet their LCR requirement but that did not turn out to be the case. Lenders showed willingness to take rate risk and ended up focusing on 5- and 7-year paper.

Source: Deutsche Bank

It seems that the bulk of recent purchases have been placed into the so-called "Held-to-Maturity" (HTM) accounts as opposed to "Available for Sale". HTM accounts allow banks to avoid mark-to-market treatment, accruing the coupon and accreting/amortizing discount/premium. At current extraordinarily low cost of funds banks can generate a positive net interest income on these intermediate-term notes while "avoiding" rate risk using HTM accounts. Treasury bills on the other hand would have resulted in interest income that is below interest expense.

Source: Deutsche Bank

The question for fixed income investors is how much more will banks be forced to buy in order to comply with the LCR rules. According to DB, most US banks are nearly there.

DB: - Deutsche Bank’s bank analysts believe most banks have already added the highly liquid assets they would need for LCR, and the industry is about 80% to 90% there. Therefore, LCR-related bank demand for Treasuries could continue, although the majority of flows might have occurred.

The answer also depends on how quickly deposits continue to grow going forward because LCR requirements are partially based on the size and stability of deposit-based funding. Deposit growth in the US has remained fairly steady at around 7.5% per year. If this trend continues, we should see LCR-based demand for treasuries decline to more moderate levels in the near-term.

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Argentina running out of options

With Argentina's private sector in disarray, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's government has been forced to increasingly bail out failing businesses, particularly importers that are critical to Argentina's stability. The nation's fiscal problems are escalating rapidly as it undertakes what amounts to a form of nationalization.

Source: Goldman Sachs

A great deal of hard currency now goes to support domestic importers (that are forced to sell at a loss to keep prices under control) and the country is becoming desperate for dollars needed to import the products the population needs. In the past, some of the greatest sources of foreign currency for Argentina have been grain exports, particularly soy. Except now there is a problem ...

Cash soy prices (source: barchart)

With fiscal deficit growing rapidly and access to international markets shut off due to the recent default, Argentina's central bank has been doing the only thing a central bank can do in this situation - monetize the deficit by printing more pesos. This has resulted in inflation levels of over 36% this summer and probably even higher currently. Not quite Zimbabwe levels yet, but moving in that direction.

In response to such inflationary pressures and fully aware that further currency devaluation by the Fernandez regime is inevitable, businesses and households are hoarding dollars. One US dollar now trades at over 15 pesos in the unofficial ("blue") exchange market - some 80% premium to the official exchange rate.

Source: Dolar Blue

There are no easy answers at this juncture. With foreign reserves expected to dwindle and risks rising of foreign bondholders accelerating full debt repayment - which they can do now that they are no longer receiving their coupon payments - Argentina is running out of options. The authorities are becoming increasingly desperate as Fernandez, in search of someone to blame other than her own failed policies, turns on Argentina's private sector. New legislation that resembles Venezuela's heavy handed socialist style has now made strong corporate profit margins in Argentina illegal.

The Washington Post: - One of South America's largest countries has passed new measures to cap consumer prices of goods, set profit margins for private businesses and levy fines on companies found to be making "artificial or unjustified" profits.

If that sounds like something they would do in Venezuela, well, that's because they already have.

Now it's Argentina that wants to use the heavy hand of the state to grip the invisible hand of the market.

Earlier this year hopes were rising for a better future in the post-Fernandez Argentina (see post). Those hopes have now been dashed.

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Watch US inflation expectations

China's "no stimulus" pledge and falling commodity prices are sending US inflation expectations to multi-year lows. Below is the 5-year inflation expectation indicator (breakeven) implied by inflation-linked treasuries (TIPS).

The 5-year real rates in the US have recently turned positive, which some would suggest represents tighter monetary conditions. With real rates on the rise, the Fed will have a great deal of room to "slowroll" the rate hikes. If inflation expectations fall further, we may see a more dovish stance from the FOMC.

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Time for a contrarian view: Eurozone's economy is turning the corner

The take-up of the ECB's TLTRO program announced back in June was materially lower than expected. About €83bn worth of cheap long-dated loans was picked up by the area's banking system. Many had expected €150bn and even greater. Part of the reason is that banks that are not quite ready to deploy the funds don't want to sit on cash with negative rates. As a result some have concluded that the Eurozone's credit contraction will worsen from here and economic conditions will deteriorate further.

As views of doom and gloom envelop the Eurozone, it may be time time for a contrarian view: the euro area's economy is turning the corner. Yes, it's difficult to imagine such a thing and we are sure to get numerous angry emails and comments. Ultimately it's about the data.

First of all we start with the Eurozone's inflation expectations which continue to fall. That combined with a weaker than expected TLTRO take-up will keep the ECB highly active in its easing efforts, potentially even considering QE.

Market-implied inflation expectations 5 years out (source: DB)

It's important to keep in mind that the ECB is trying to replace at least in part the 3yr LTRO and MRO loans that banks have been repaying. These repayments have resulted in an unprecedented reduction in the central bank (Eurosystem) balance sheet since the beginning of last year.

Eurosystem (central bank) balance sheet (source: ECB)

Without a strong take-up in the TLTRO, the ECB will consider other options to expand the balance sheet. The planned ABS purchases will hardly make a dent because the new Basel Accord has all but destroyed that market. Therefore there will be pressure on the ECB to do something else in order to stem the decline in its balance sheet. Plus we are already seeing EU institutions calling on the BIS to loosen regulatory capital rules for structured credit issuance. All of this is positive for the Eurozone banks and will likely expand liquidity in the system. That's in part why we've had a nice pop in euro area bank shares recently.

FTSEurofirst 300 Banks Index Index Price (source: MarketWatch)

Interestingly, a number of analysts have been pointing out that the Eurozone bank deleveraging is over. Credit contraction in the area is ending. One can see glimpses of this in the area's money supply measures which have stabilized recently.

Euro area M3 money supply (source: ECB)

To some extent Mario Draghi has already generated some degree of stimulus for the area's economy by repricing the euro (via negative domestic deposit rates). This is a gift for German and other exporters who can now more effectively compete on the international markets.

EUR/USD (source: TradingView)

We may already be witnessing the impact of weaker euro, as German trade balance jumped recently, resulting in better than expected German industrial production report.

Source: Investing.com

Improved German exports (see chart) combined with several other factors have resulted in higher than expected growth in industrial production for the Eurozone as a whole.

Source: Investing.com

There is no question that the Eurozone's economy continues to struggle. Issues such as the recession in Italy, manufacturing stagnation in France, and massive unemployment across the area are not going away anytime soon. China's economy and the situation in Ukraine continue to pose risks. Surveys still show worsening business and consumer sentiment. But the expectations around the area's performance have been so bad lately, surprises to the upside are increasingly likely (see example). The ECB's aggressive easing stance as well as stronger trade and industrial activity data tell us that for now the worst of the euro area slowdown may be over.


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Ukraine on the brink

While we see a great deal of media coverage of Ukraine-related geopolitical risks, there hasn't been sufficient discussion about the dire economic and fiscal conditions the nation is facing. Writing about men in masks fighting in eastern Ukraine sells far more advertising than covering the nation's economic activity. However it's the economy, not the Russian army that has brought Ukraine close to the brink. And just to be clear, some of Kiev's economic and fiscal problems were visible long before the spat with Russia (see post from 2012).

Ukraine is now in recession. Deep economic ties with Russia have resulted in painful adjustments in recent months. The nation's exports are down some 19% from last year in dollar terms and expected to fall further. A great example of Ukraine's export challenges is the Antonov aircraft company known for its Soviet era large transport planes as well as other types of aircraft.

As the military cooperation with Russia ended, Antonov was in trouble. It had to take a $150 million hit recently by not delivering the medium-range An-148 planes to the Russian Air Force. The Russians will find a replacement for this aircraft, but in the highly competitive global aircraft market, it's far less likely that Antonov will find another client.

Here are some key indicators of Ukraine's worsening situation:

1. The nation's GDP is down almost 5% from a year ago and growth is expected to worsen.

2. Ukraine's retail sales are falling at the rate we haven't seen since the financial crisis.

3. And industrial production is collapsing.

4. The most immediate concern however is the nation's currency, which has been trading near record lows in spite of currency controls. In fact Friday's fall in hryvnia was unprecedented (over 11%), as Kiev fails to stem capital outflows.

Intraday exchange rate (source: Bloomberg)

Those who have spend any time in Ukraine during the winter know how harsh the weather can get. And at these valuations, hryvnia isn't going to buy much heating fuel from abroad. Furthermore, it's not clear if the government will have the wherewithal to provide sufficient assistance to the population.

5. Inflation rate is running above 14% and will spike sharply from here in the next few months if the currency weakness persists. Real wages are collapsing.

6. Finally, Ukraine's fiscal situation is unraveling. In its attempts to defend the currency, Kiev has been using up its foreign exchange reserves. It is only the access to some IMF funding that has allowed Ukraine's government to maintain some semblance of order in its FX markets.

Moreover, public debt levels continue to rise as the government attempts to keep the Ukrainian banking system afloat.

Fitch Ratings: - Government debt (including guarantees such as NBU liabilities to the IMF) to GDP has quadrupled since 2008, reflecting exchange rate depreciation, fiscal deficits, low growth and below-the-line costs such as recapitalisation of banks and Naftogaz. There is high dollarisation and foreign-currency exposure, making government solvency, banks' balance sheets and the overall economy vulnerable to sharp depreciation.

A number of economists now believe that given worsening economic crisis, the country's public debt problem is simply unsustainable and default is becoming increasingly likely.

Goldman: - We continue to see downside risks to activity and to our forecast for a contraction of output of 8% this year and for growth of 1% next year. As we recently argued, this severe economic weakness is likely to cause public debt to rise to 70% this year and 77% next year, above the IMF’s “high-risk threshold” for debt sustainability. These downside risks to our forecasts further call into question the sustainability of Ukraine’s debt trajectory.

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SoberLook.com

Sign up for our daily newsletter called the Daily Shot. It's a quick graphical summary of topics covered here and on Twitter (see overview). Emails are distributed via Freelists.org and are NEVER sold or otherwise shared with anyone.


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PBoC joins other major central banks with unconventional monetary policy action

Softer than expected economic growth in China (see discussion) has finally spurred the PBoC into action. However, rather than undertaking asset purchases that would inject reserves into the overall banking system, the PBoC forced liquidity directly into state-owned banks.

NY Times: - With industrial production growing at the slowest pace since the worst of the global financial crisis and foreign direct investment in a tailspin, China appears to have taken the unusual step of using monetary stimulus in an attempt to forestall further economic weakness.

China’s central bank has lent 100 billion renminbi, or $16.2 billion, to each of the country’s five main, state-controlled banks, bankers and economists said Wednesday, although the central bank and the five banks involved stayed silent. The seemingly stealthy decision to inject a total of $81 billion into the banking system this week came as the Chinese economy, like many economies in Europe, has slowed over the summer, although still expanding at a pace that would be the envy of most countries around the world.

This is probably the least effective QE-style action, as state-owned lenders are unlikely to efficiently deliver capital into the private sector. But the fact that the PBoC has taken this action tells us this could be the start of a longer monetary stimulus effort. The markets are not expecting a near-term economic improvement and instead pricing in a prolonged battle to accelerate growth. China's SHIBOR rate swap curve has become more inverted than a month ago with expectations of further rate declines.

Some form of stimulus was already being priced in, which is in part what generated the recent stock market rally.

Source: Investing.com

Now the PBoC joins other major central banks in expanding "unconventional" monetary policy efforts. The impact of such actions on economic growth however remains highly uncertain, particularly in the face of softening property markets and weaker corporate balance sheets.

Source: Reuters

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SoberLook.com

Sign up for our daily newsletter called the Daily Shot. It's a quick graphical summary of topics covered here and on Twitter (see overview). Emails are distributed via Freelists.org and are NEVER sold or otherwise shared with anyone.


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China about to miss the 7.5% GDP growth target

Economic reports from China continue to disappoint. Here are three recent data points:

1. Fixed asset investment growth, while still quite strong relative to the rest of the world, continues to fall.

Source: Investing.com, National Bureau of Statistics of China

2. Retail sales year-over-year growth fell below 12% again, making the switch from export-based economy to domestic consumption more difficult.

Source: Investing.com, National Bureau of Statistics of China

3. More importantly, China's industrial production growth is at the lowest level since the financial crisis.

Source: Investing.com, National Bureau of Statistics of China

Analysts are suggesting that China may now miss its target of 7.5% GDP growth unless Beijing puts in place outright stimulus programs.

FT: - ANZ said the data “reinforced our view that China’s growth momentum has decelerated faster than anticipated” on the back of a sluggish property market and slowing credit expansion. It added that China generally needs 9 per cent industrial production growth to boost the economy by 7.5 per cent. “Short of outright policy easing, China will likely miss the 7.5 per cent growth target this year, and a sharp economic slowdown will endanger the undergoing structural reforms,” Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao, ANZ economists, wrote in a research note. “Chinese authorities should further relax monetary policy as soon as possible to prevent the growth momentum from decelerating further.”

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SoberLook.com

Sign up for our daily newsletter called the Daily Shot. It's a quick graphical summary of topics covered here and on Twitter (see overview). Emails are distributed via Freelists.org and are NEVER sold or otherwise shared with anyone.


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