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Deutsche Skeptical Over Fed Jobs "Soft Landing"

US OUTLOOK/OPINION

Several FOMC members have expressed confidence that the Fed can get inflation down while not pushing up the jobless rate too far - but Deutsche is skeptical.

  • Powell said last week that one pathway to achieving an economic "soft landing" is to reduce the record gap between job openings and unemployment.
  • But Deutsche says "historical experience provides no examples of labor demand falling materially without unemployment rising" (see Deutsch chart).
  • They also note there is "significant heterogeneity in labor market tightness ... which the Fed will not be able to target precisely" (several industries and US states have openings/unemployed ratios below 1.0).
  • And incoming evidence from small businesses (looking at JOLTS, ADP and NFIB data) suggests that falling but still-high job openings are associated with a decline in employment.
  • Recall that Deutsche has one of the earliest/only recession calls among analysts, expecting a mild US recession by end-2023.

Source: Deutsche Bank

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