KEJI - Growth Forecasts Regional Bank Concerns And A Hot U.S. Jobs Report

2024-02-06 12:30:00 ET

Summary

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upwardly revised its 2024 global growth forecast to 3.1% from 2.9%, largely because of a more resilient US economy and policy stimulus in China.
• New York Community Bank surprised markets by slashing its dividend due to troubled commercial real estate loans, but I believe this problem is largely contained rather than contagious.
• The US jobs report was, simply put, red-hot, including the area I am most focused on - wage growth - although that is likely an anomaly.

Last week was a busy one for market watchers, featuring revised economic growth forecasts, regional bank surprises, some cold water from the Federal Reserve regarding a potential March rate cut, and a hot US jobs report, among other headlines. Following are my key takeaways from the week, and why they matter.

Economic growth forecasts largely improve for 2024

The IMF released its updated World Economic Outlook with some tweaks to the forecasts it released in October. ¹ ...

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