Weekly Indicators: confusing consumer spending reports edition

 - by New Deal democrat

Monthly data released in the past week was dominated by yesterday's payroll report, showing 238,000 jobs added, and both the U3 and broad U6 unemployment rates declining slightly to new post-recession lows. The participation rate remained generally flat. Other reports included the ISM services report, up and signalling good expansion in the services sector. Factory orders, however, declined. Customer credit increased, as did wholesale inventories.

Let me remind readers that this look at high frequency weekly data is not predictive, but attempts to capture the most up to the minute pulse of the economy in the present. As I've done for the last few weeks, due to the recent payroll tax increases, let's start again this look at the high frequency weekly indicators by checking what is happening with tax withholding:

Employment metrics
Daily Treasury Statement tax withholding

• $149.6 B (adjusted for 2013 payroll tax withholding changes) vs. $156.7 B, -4.5% YoY for the last 20 days.  The unadjusted result was $172.1 B for a 9.8% increase.

Initial jobless claims

•   340,000 down 4,000


•   4 week average 348,750 down 6,250

American Staffing Association Index

• up 1 to 90 w/w up 3.2% YoY

Employment metrics were again mixed this week.  Initial claims have established a new lower range of between 330,000 to 375,000.  The ASA is still running slighty below 2007, and slightly ahead of last year.

I am adjusting my YoY tax withholding figures to reflect the increase in personal withholding taxes. While the YoY collections are up substantially, they should be up over 15% to compensate for the tax increase.  Since I can think of no reason why employment itself should have fallen off a cliff in January, it is very possible that there is a lag in the payment of withholding taxes with the new increase.  If this hypothesis were correct, I would have expected tax withholding to be much more reliable by about now. So far, that isn't happening.

Consumer spending

• ICSC +0.2% w/w +1.8% YoY


• Johnson Redbook +2.2%YoY


• Gallup daily consumer spending 14 day average at $89 up approximately $20 YoY

Gallup has been very positive for 3 months. After tailing off in late February, there was another splurge of spending (over $100/day on the survey) in the first few days of March.  The ICSC varied between +1.5% and +4.5% YoY in 2012. with one excpetion, the report for the last few weeks has been near the bottom of this range.. The JR report this week is in the middle of its typical YoY range for the last year.  Even in the worst case, it still looks like consumer spending has not collapsed due to the tax withholding increase. The rebound in the last several weeks may be due to tax refunds finally arriving in consumers' hands.

Housing metrics

Housing prices

• YoY this week. +3.9%

Housing prices bottomed at the end of November 2011 on Housing Tracker, and have averaged an increase of +2.0% to +2.5% YoY for the last year. For the fourth week in a row, this week was the best YoY comparison in about 7 years.

Real estate loans, from the FRB H8 report:

• +0.3% w.w


•  +0.5% YoY


• +2.4% from its bottom

Loans turned up at the end of 2011 and averaged about 1% gains YoY through most of 2012, but recently showed somewhat more YoY strength.  In the last few weeks have been less positive.

Mortgage applications from the Mortgage Bankers Association:

• +15% w/w purchase applications


• +17% YoY purchase applications


• +15% w/w refinance applications

Purchase applications had been going sideways for 2 years. In the last couple of months they have finally broken out of that range - slightly - to the upside.  Refinancing applications were very high for most of last year with record low mortgage rates, but did decreased recently with an increase of mortgage rates. In the last week, mortgage rates declilned again, and refinancing went up.

Interest rates and credit spreads

•  4.78% BAA corporate bonds down 0.09%


• 2.00% 10 year treasury bonds down -0.12%


• 2.78% credit spread between corporates and treasuries incrreased +0.03%

Interest rates for corporate bonds have generally been falling since being just above 6% two years ago in January 2011, hitting a low of 4.46% in November 2012.  Treasuries have fallen from about 2% in late 2011 to a low of 1.47% in July 2012. Spreads have varied between a high over 3.4% in June 2011 to a low under 2.75% in October 2012.  The  last several months have seen a marked increase in rates and credit spreads have widened slightly.

Money supply

M1

• +0.1% w/w


• -0.6% m/m


• +9.4% YoY Real M1

M2

• -0.2% w/w


• -0.1% m/m


• +5.1% YoY Real M2

Real M1 made a YoY high of about 20% in January 2012 and has generally been easing off since.  This week's YoY reading remained above a new low set several weeks ago.  Real M2 also made a YoY high of about 10.5% in January 2012.  Its subsequent low was 4.5% in August 2012.  It was weak once again this week.  Both are still quite positive in absolute terms. In absolute terms, M2 made a high 2 months ago and is down -0.9% from that peak. The behavior of M2 thus bears close scrutiny.

Oil prices and usage

•  Oil $91.95 up $1.27 w/w


•   gas $3.76 down $0.02 w/w


• Usage 4 week average YoY +1.1%

Although the price of a barrel of Oil has backed off recent seasonal highs, and are actually down $.03 YoY  Unusually for the last year plus, the 4 week average for gas usage for the fifth week in a row was positive YoY.  This may be due to winter weather having been actually winter-like this year.

Transport

Railroad transport from the AAR

•  +600 or +0.2% carloads YoY


• +1400 or +0.8% carloads ex-coal


• +20,000 or +9.7% intermodal units


• +22,500 or +4.4% YoY total loads

Shipping transport

• Harpex up 5 to 377


• Baltic Dry Index up 67 to 843

Rail transport appears to have returned to its pattern from last year.  Traffic ex-coal has now returned to being positive for the third week in a row.  The Harpex index remains slightly off its 3 year low of 352, and the Baltic Dry Index remains above its recent low.

Bank lending rates

• 0.19 TED spread up +0.01 w/w


• 0.2000 LIBOR unchanged w/w

The TED spread increased slightly from its 18 month+ low.  LIBOR remained at its new 52 week low and is close to a 3 year low.

JoC ECRI Commodity prices

• down 0.87 to 126.74 w/w


• +0.59% YoY

I am really not sure what to make at all at this point of tax withholding. Unadjusted of course it is running very well above last year. But it should be about 15% higher, after adjusting for the payroll tax increase, not 10%, and we are now more than 2 months into the year. ICSC and Johnson Redbook consumer spending came in rather weak. And then there is Gallup consumer spending, which after a pause, is back on a tear. This is a thoroughly confusing picture.

Relatively weak comparisons included commodities, real estate loans, and bank credit rates and spreads. M2 money supply has declined since the first of the year.

In addition to Gallup consumer spending, other continuing positives once again include housing prices and mortgage applications. Bank lending rates remain positive.  Gas usage remains positive, and Oil prices are more accomodating. Initial claims are very positive. Rail traffic was also positive again, even including coal.

Only commodities and tax withholding adjusted for increased rates, plus real M2 measured from the beginning of this year are outright negative. Still, many of the others are less positive than they used to be, and are close to neutral. Thus I remain more cautious than in recent months.

Have a nice weekend.