Posted 1/21/2024, 2:00:00 PM
Inflation Rises in December While Jobs Data Remains Unclear, Stoking Recession Worries
- Inflation rose unexpectedly in December, leading to market drops and pushback of expected rate cuts
- Wage growth data was encouraging, with declines in growth rates
- Jobs market data is unclear due to issues with statistics
- Retail sales drop implies a mild recession may already be underway
- Inflation should fall later in 2023, potentially allowing rate cuts by June, but pay inflation still needs to fall to 3%