by Calculated Risk on 5/24/2013 10:29:00 AM

Last week I summarized some recent research on the labor force participation rate. The following piece from Michelle Meyer at Merrill Lynch argues the LFPR will likely move sideways over the next few years. Changes in the participation rate have important implications for the number of jobs needed to lower the unemployment rate.

An excerpt from Michelle Meyer's piece:

The future trajectory of the labor force participation rate (LFPR) is very important in gauging the trend in the unemployment rate and risks to wage inflation. In order to forecast the labor force participation rate, we must understand the drivers behind its recent sharp movements – to what extent is a long-term trend related to demographics (aging population) versus secular or cyclical dynamics?

We can isolate the effect of demographics on the LFPR by looking at the participation rates by age cohort. The aggregate LFPR is equal to the summation of each individual age cohort's LFPR weighted by its share of the population. ... This suggests that half of the 2.7pp decline in the LFPR since the onset of the recession can be explained simply from the aging population. In other words, holding all else equal – meaning no business cycle dynamics – the LFPR would be at 64.6% today compared to the actual rate of 63.3%. The remaining 1.4pp drop is due to some combination of secular and short-term cyclical factors.

The two primary secular trends are the decline in the LFPR among the youth population and the rise among 55+. The LFPR for 16 to 19 year olds plunged to 34.3% last year from 52% in 2000. While this may have been accelerated by the past two recessions, we believe this is a permanent trend. On the other end, the LFPR of the older population has increased, likely reflecting higher life expectancy, less confidence in social benefit programs and loss of wealth from the Great Recession.

... we still believe that there are some cyclical components. One way to gauge the cyclicality of the LFPR is to observe state-level variation in the relationship between the LFPR and the health of the economy. Based on work from a recent San Francisco Fed paper, we compare the percentage decline in state payrolls to the decline in the LFPR during the recession, both weighted by the relative size of its labor force. We find a positive relationship where larger declines in employment are associated with bigger drops in the LFPR. The paper does the same exercise for prior recessions and finds a positive relationship existed in each, with the exception of the 2000 cycle.

If the relationship holds on the downside, do we also observe it during the recovery? There is little evidence of such correlation in this recovery, but it does exist for prior cycles. In prior cycles, the positive correlation did not become apparent until the economy had exceeded the previous employment peak by a significant amount. This suggests that the cyclical pressure in the LFPR may not be observed until 2015, at the earliest.

We can simulate a future path for the LFPR based on our assessment of the drivers of the downturn in the LFPR. The first step is to account for the continued aging of the population using the Census Bureau's projections by age cohort. If we keep the LFPR by age group constant at 2007 levels and only allow for demographic adjustments, we find that the LFPR will fall by another 3.3pp by 2025 and then slip to 59.2% in 2050. ...

We also assume that the secular trends exhibited during the last decade persist, but at a slower pace, implying a modest downturn in the LFPR among the youth and an upward trajectory for the 55+ age group. ... Based on these rough assumptions, we forecast the LFPR will slip slightly this year, but with a stronger recovery under way next year, the LFPR should start to level off some and potentially increase beginning in 2015 (Chart 4).

The cyclical dynamics, in our view, are not strong enough to generate a pop higher in the LFPR given the downward pull from demographics. But at a minimum, we expect these dynamics can counter the downside pressure and allow the LFPR to move sideways once the recovery builds momentum.

by Calculated Risk on 5/24/2013 09:06:00 AM

From the Department of Commerce: Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders April 2013

New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $7.2 billion or 3.3 percent to $222.6 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up two of the last three months, followed a 5.9 percent March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.1 percent.

This was above expectations of a 1.1% increase. This report is difficult to predict and very noisy month-to-month.

by Calculated Risk on 5/23/2013 08:32:00 PM

Several people have asked me about this article at CNBC by Jeff Cox: Why Housing Won't Drive the Recovery

Despite data points that in some cases are at multiyear highs, Robert Shiller, Karl Case and David Blitzer believe there are multiple headwinds that will keep a lid on housing gains.

Among the obstacles are a low level of new housing starts, an unexpectedly slow migration of so-called shadow inventory onto the market, and continued difficulty for buyers to secure financing.

"You've got a lot of breathless commentary in the media," said Shiller, a Yale University economist. "All this talk that we're in this great recovery—we probably are in the short run, the longer run doesn't look so terrific to me."

First, housing (technically residential investment) will be a key driver for the economy. Period. 

It is important to understand that "residential investment" is mostly new homes and home improvement. For existing home sales, only the broker's commission is included in residential investment (nothing is added to the housing stock).  Those looking at the level of existing home sales are looking at the wrong number, as are those focused only on house prices.

Look at "headwinds" that are mentioned in the article:
1) "a low level of new housing starts".  That is a headwind?  To me, the low level of starts means there is more upside based on demographics.  The homeownership rate peaks for those in the 55 to 75 age group, so the boomers will not negatively impact homeownership for a decade or more.

2) "an unexpectedly slow migration of so-called shadow inventory onto the market".  Do they expect the pace of foreclosures to increase?  I don't.  The process is very long in most judicial states, and I don't expect another wave of foreclosures hitting the market - but I do think we will see distressed sales for years.

3) "continued difficulty for buyers to secure financing".  OK, but this has been a headwind for the last couple of years.  Looking forward, I expect some loosening in lending standards.  So this is really a potential tailwind.

Nothing in this article changes my view.

Friday economic release:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders for April from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 1.1% increase in durable goods orders.

Note: The bond market will close early Friday at 2PM ET. The stock market will close at the normal time. All markets are closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

The Calculated Risk blog is always open!

by Calculated Risk on 5/23/2013 03:33:00 PM

From Freddie Mac today: Mortgage Rates Continue Upward Trend

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey(R) (PMMS®), showing fixed mortgage rates trending higher for the third consecutive week and putting pressure on refinance momentum. ...

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.59 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 23, 2013, up from last week when it averaged 3.51 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.78 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged 2.77 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.69 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.04 percent.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the the 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgage interest rates from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey®.   Not much of an increase recently ... but it will slow refinance activity.

The Freddie Mac survey started in 1971 and 30 year mortgage rates are still near the record low set last November.

by Calculated Risk on 5/23/2013 12:47:00 PM

Obviously the new home sales report this morning was solid with sales above expectations and significant upward revisions to prior months. I try not to react too much to the month to month ups and downs; the key points right now are that sales are increasing and will probably continue to increase for some time.

Now that we have four months of data for 2013, one way to look at the growth rate is to use the "not seasonally adjusted" (NSA) year-to-date data.

According to the Census Bureau, there were 153 thousand new homes sold in 2013 through April, up about 26.4% from the 121 thousand sold during the same period in 2012. That is a very solid increase in sales, and this was the highest sales for these months since 2008.

Note: For 2013, estimates are sales will increase to around 450 to 460 thousand, or an increase of around 22% to 25% on an annual basis from the 369 thousand in 2012. 

Although there has been a large increase in the sales rate, sales are just above the lows for previous recessions. This suggests significant upside over the next few years.  Based on estimates of household formation and demographics, I expect sales to increase to 750 to 800 thousand over the next several years - substantially higher than the current sales rate.

And an important point worth repeating: Housing is historically the best leading indicator for the economy, and this is one of the reasons I think The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

And here is another update to the "distressing gap" graph that I first started posting over four years ago to show the emerging gap caused by distressed sales.  Now I'm looking for the gap to start to close over the next few years.

Click on graph for larger image.

The "distressing gap" graph shows existing home sales (left axis) and new home sales (right axis) through April 2013. This graph starts in 1994, but the relationship has been fairly steady back to the '60s.

Following the housing bubble and bust, the "distressing gap" appeared mostly because of distressed sales. The flood of distressed sales kept existing home sales elevated, and depressed new home sales since builders weren't able to compete with the low prices of all the foreclosed properties.

I don't expect much of an increase in existing home sales (distressed sales will slowly decline and be offset by more conventional sales). But I do expect this gap to continue to close - mostly from an increase in new home sales.

Another way to look at this is a ratio of existing to new home sales.

This ratio was fairly stable from 1994 through 2006, and then the flood of distressed sales kept the number of existing home sales elevated and depressed new home sales. (Note: This ratio was fairly stable back to the early '70s, but I only have annual data for the earlier years).

In general the ratio has been trending down, and I expect this ratio to trend down over the next several years as the number of distressed sales declines and new home sales increase.

Note: Existing home sales are counted when transactions are closed, and new home sales are counted when contracts are signed. So the timing of sales is different.