Stephen Stanley Growth Quotations

Fed officials will remain watchful for a reacceleration in unit labor costs, especially with anecdotal evidence and an upturn in average hourly earnings growth suggesting that wage pressures may be picking up.

The Fed is, if anything, more concerned about inflation than they are about a growth slowdown.

The inventory change now suggests growth this quarter is likely to have a 3.0 handle on it rather than 4.0.

The labor market is the linchpin of our economic forecasts, because income growth is going to sustain the consumer.

The bottom line is that, excluding the hurricane, to the best that we can tell, job growth continues to be good, as was made clear by the upward revisions to the previous two months.

The report follows the recent pattern of strong growth and no inflation.

We expect productivity growth to moderate, and compensation gains and unit labor costs to pick up. Just another piece of the puzzle that points toward more Fed tightening than the market currently expects.