Housing continues to support growth in the U.S. economy, and consumer credit continues to flow as the Federal Reserve suggests interest rates will remain stable. Housing strong: With mortgage rates again approaching all-time lows, demand for housing is high, but supply is tight. Existing homes are appreciating much more than normal, which encourages more new … Continued
We continue to expect this year to be “not so bad” for the industry and especially for dealers as a modest decline in new retail sales will be offset by the gain in used retail sales. Consumer spending slowing: Consumer sentiment is stronger so far this year despite modestly higher prices and slowing real wage … Continued
The year of wild cards continued last week, with the chaos and long delay for results in the first presidential election primary in Iowa. One wild card was taken off the table when the impeachment trial ended with an acquittal for President Trump on both charges. The coronavirus is still spreading, but the stock market has been … Continued
The year of wild cards continued with a momentous Friday leaving us with mounting concerns about the coronavirus, stock market declines resulting in net declines for the year, Great Britain separating from the European Union, and the impeachment trial heading for a vote. It was also a week filled with new and important economic data. … Continued
The Federal Reserve officially left short-term rate policy unchanged, which was expected. The Fed is determined to leave monetary policy parked in the absence of clear evidence of a material change in the direction of the economy. Even though their policy statement acknowledged that they have downgraded their view of the pace of consumer spending growth, … Continued
We are three full weeks into 2020, the year of wild cards. Concern about Iran has now been replaced by the coronavirus spreading from China. While the impeachment trial continued here, the U.K. cleared the final legal hurdle for Brexit to happen Friday, and, while in Davos, President Trump threatened the EU with tariffs on autos … Continued
Two full weeks into January, most of the latest data reflects key trends in December. Inflation eats into wages: Inflation increased modestly in December, primarily from higher energy prices and from big increases in health care insurance. Average weekly earnings did not see real growth for the first time in 32 months as a result … Continued
A replay of the 2020 Cox Automotive Industry Insights Breakfast, held in Detroit on Monday, is available below. Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and his team shared their insights on how the automotive industry fared in 2019 and what they see coming in 2020. Vince Zappa, president of Clutch Technologies, and Sonya Harbaugh, co-founder and … Continued
Job growth is slowing, wage gains are not accelerating, and consumers are pulling back on spending as evidenced by disappointing December car sales. Job creation slows: December saw job creation slow down relative to the much bigger gain in November. Even with the smaller gain, both the headline and the underemployment rates are now at … Continued
We ended 2019 with mostly positive data. Home sales continue to be strong as both new home sales and pending home sales increased in November. But news starting 2020 has been less so. Wary consumers: Consumer confidence failed to see improvement in December, but it isn’t declining either. The main concern is that consumers do … Continued
