The video below is part of a biweekly Auto Market Report series focusing on data and insights that provide a holistic view of the auto industry. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. Download this week’s presentation.
Economic growth recovered in the fourth quarter, as real GDP growth accelerated to 7%, which was the strongest reading for the year, following the disruption from the delta wave of COVID-19 in the third quarter last year. This year started slower with the omicron wave, but activity is now recovering again as COVID cases are … Continued
COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant surged to record levels in January but have been declining rapidly for more than four weeks. They are now down 85% from the peak. COVID, inflation, the weather and stock market volatility have weighed on consumer sentiment so far in 2022, but none of that kept consumers from … Continued
The video below is part of a biweekly Auto Market Report series focusing on data and insights that provide a holistic view of the auto industry. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. Download this week’s presentation.
COVID-19 cases continue to fall rapidly. Daily cases numbers are back to late December levels. Even with cases down, consumer sentiment, according to the University of Michigan, declined again in the initial February reading. Inflation picked up again in January to record the highest level of year-over-year inflation in 40 years. Wholesale used-car prices did … Continued
The January employment picture was much brighter than expected, as the omicron wave of COVID-19 failed to make a major dent in the tight job market. Job creation, wage growth and workforce participation gained as jobless claims fell. New-vehicle sales were down 10% in January. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of sales improved to … Continued
I participated in a panel discussion titled Electric Vehicle Strategies: Driving Mass Market Uptake earlier this week at the BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco. Bloomberg set the stage of the discussion by stating that policy mandates and subsidies characterized the first phase in the global electric vehicle (EV) market, but now organic consumer demand is … Continued
The video below is part of a biweekly Auto Market Report series focusing on data and insights that provide a holistic view of the auto industry. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. Download this week’s presentation.
Economic growth recovered in the fourth quarter, as real GDP growth accelerated to 6.9%, which was the strongest reading for the year. The increase was assisted by large gains in inventories as the worst of the supply chain problems likely was at the end of the third quarter of 2021. However, consumer spending growth ended … Continued
The Fed is moving to tighten U.S. monetary policy in 2022. At its first Fed meeting of the year, the Fed announced that it will soon be appropriate to raise the target rate for the Federal Funds Rate. The Fed’s language was an indication that rate increases could begin in March, which is when the next … Continued
