KPMG Economics

Economic Coordinates

Explore analysis of key data indicators, such as job creation and the labor market, consumer spending, inflation, investment, housing and monetary policy. These combined data points are indicators of the overall health of the economy.

• U.S. inflation eased slightly last month as price increases extend slow descent | Associated Press
  “As a consumer, especially if you haven’t seen the kind of wage growth that would help match the inflation growth, you’re probably still pretty frustrated with how high prices have been,” said Yelena Maleyev, an economist at KPMG. “And then, in addition to that now, how high credit costs are.”
  October 13, 2023 | Associated Press  

• Fed Will Lean Toward Another Rate Hike After Blowout Payrolls | Bloomberg 
  In addition, a recent surge in longer-term yields may be doing some of the central bank’s work already, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG LLP in Chicago. “The bond market is doing heavy lifting for the Fed now,” she said. “That said, the acceleration in growth justifies higher rates and hawks will remain concerned about backsliding on progress made on inflation as they meet in November.”
  October 6, 2023 | Bloomberg

• Talent gap narrows in financial services, but macro-economic concerns remain | Insurance news net 
  That number is down to about 325,000 and on a steady decline, said Kenneth Kim, a senior economist at KPMG. He spoke this week during the KPMG 35th Annual Insurance Industry Conference in Orlando, Fla.
  September 25, 2023 | Insurance news net

• US homebuyers are waiting for the Fed to start cutting interest rates. Here's when 9 experts say it's going to happen | Business Insider 
  Following the release of August's inflation report, KPMG US's chief economist, Diane Swonk, wrote in a note that the Federal Reserve might not be done raising interest rates. “The Fed needs to see quarters, not months, of fundamentally cooler inflation to cut rates. We are not even close," she wrote. "Our forecast for the first rate cut in May 2024 holds."
  September 18, 2023 | Business Insider  

• The UAW strike fallout may quickly begin to snowball, says KPMG’s Diane Swonk |Video - CNBC  
  Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, joins ‘The Exchange’ to discuss the fallout a UAW strike could have on employment data, China’s growth as a global exporter of electric vehicles, and shifting production worldwide due to ongoing trade tariffs.
  September 15, 2023 |  CNBC

• CPI report: Rising gas prices a 'big deal for families' | Video - Yahoo Finance 
  “Yelena Maleyev: Well, we've actually already started to see some of those relief from inflation numbers coming in over the last few months. Remember, energy prices peaked in June of last year. So the lowest hanging fruit on that inflation relief have already been picked. So we have been seeing an overall deceleration. Just a few months of increase gas or energy prices does not a trend yet make.”
  September 13, 2023 | Yahoo Finance