Macro Monday 20 ~ The Philly Fed IndexMacro Monday 20
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
While the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index (PFMI) is a regional report generated from surveys in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware by the Federal Reserve Bank, it is particularly useful as it provides an advance indication of the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report which is released up to a week after the PFMI (the PMI surveys the entire US whilst the PFMI only surveys the regions mentioned above).
The Philly Fed Index is released this Thursday 16th November 2023 and will provide an advance indication as to what to expect from the PMI released Friday 24th November 2023. Both are a review the prior months survey data, October 2023.
The PFMI index dates back to 1968 and is similar to the PMI, the Federal Reserve completes surveys and asks businesses about new orders, shipments, employment, inventories and general business activity, prices paid, prices received, capital expenditures as well as future expectations for business.
A reading= 0 is stagnation
<0 = contraction
>0 = expansion
The current reading is -9 so we are contractionary territory. We did fall as low as -31.3 on the April 2023 release.
The Chart
The main indications from the chart are as follows:
The Orange Zone
▫️ When the PFMI remains in the orange zone for >10 months it has always coincided with a Recession
- We are in presently in this zone 16 months with 2 brief monthly jumps out of it. I think its safe to say we are 10 months+ in the orange zone which historically has always coincided with a recession.
The Red Zone
▫️All Recessions confirmed a reading below -22 on the PFMI (this is below the red line into the red zone on the chart)
- In April 2023 we hit a low of -31.3 which is well into the red zone (sub -22). We have since risen above the neutral 0 level to high of +12 in Aug 2023 however we have since fallen back down into the -13.5 (Sept) and -9 (Oct). The Nov Release is due this Thursday 16th Nov (and is actually the reading for Oct - released in Nov)
Are we already in a mild Recession?
You can see that in March 1970 we reached a similar PFMI level of -31.3, the same level as in April 2023 (there is a dashed red line to illustrate this on the chart). March 1970 was the middle of the 1969-70 Recession which was a mild recession that ran for 11 months from Dec 1969 – Nov 1970. Whilst it was a mild recession as to its impact on the general economy, there was till a 34% decline in the S&P500.
The 1969-70 Recession has many similarities to some of our current economic predicaments, with the main factors leading to the 1970 recession being tighter monetary policy, rising oil prices, rising inflation, and slowing growth in Europe and Asia. Sound familiar?
From Jan – Apr 2023 the Unemployment Rate was at the lowest levels seen since back in 1969 (at 3.4%). For 8 months (Sept 1968 – May 1969) the unemployment rate was down at 3.4%. We reached this level in January 2023 and oscillated there until April 2023 (only 4 months). Since then the Unemployment rate has risen sharply from 3.5% to 3.9% (July – Oct 2023). Interestingly, this move in the unemployment rate from 3.5% to 3.9% also happened from Dec 1969 to Jan 1970 and marked the start of the recession. Could this be an indicator that we stepped into a recession In July 2023? The orange zone and red zone on the chart are triggering a confirmation nod of a recession. During the recession of 1969-70 the unemployment rate topped at 6.08% in Nov 1970, this is something we have not seen yet however we seem to be trending upwards in that direction. Queue the 8th Dec 2023, the next Bureau of Labor Statistics Unemployment date release.
The 1968-70 period was also burdened with high inflation with YOY CPI increasing from 2% - 6% in the 26 month period from Oct 1967 – Dec 1969. Similarly over a 25 month period from May 2020 – June 2022 CPI increased from 0% to 9.08%. The timeline of the 1969-70 inflation is quite similar, not exactly the same rate increase or timeline but similar all the same. Since June 2022 the CPI has come down to 3.7% as of Sept 2023.
There are some broader similarities between the late 1960’s and early 1970’s to present day, the Vietnam war was raging and was receiving significant funding from the US government with many bills passed in support of the war effort. There was also significant poverty issues in the states as the war dragged on, and the awareness of money being spent on it was creating social discourse on the topic. Whilst the current situation of funding towards the Ukraine and Palestine conflicts is obviously very different, a similar awareness and disapproval is present as many domestic states are suffering with poverty. US President Johnson summarised the late 60’s quiet well in a 1966 speech stating that the nation could afford to spend heavily on both national security and social welfare — “both guns and butter”, as the old saying goes. Only in today’s circumstances only one of these seem to still be taking priority and it isn’t butter.
I believe todays chart and post demonstrates a few things, that there is a high probability that we are already in a recession as of July 2023, however on a positive note the period we find ourselves in has many similarities to 1969-70 period, where the recession was a very bearable and mild one. With some luck, unemployment might top at 6.08% within 9 or 10 months like in 1970 and we will see a correction no greater than -34% on the S&P500 eventually. We already survived a 25% S&P500 decline from Dec 21 – Sept 2022. Minus 34% from our recent $4,580 high would put the S&P500 at approx. $3,000.
Obviously there are no guarantees of any of these scenarios playing out, but at present we are certainly playing to the same tune as the 1969-70 period.
PUKA
