It’s clear what threw prognosticators and policy makers for the biggest loop with their economic forecasts for 2015: oil.
Crude oil prices stayed unexpectedly low this year and those low prices didn’t prove as beneficial as many had hoped
.
A year ago, the price of oil had collapsed but many expected it to
gradually rebound. Lower gas prices usually provided a boost to
consumers, and higher gas prices certainly hurt consumers, but the boom
that many had hoped for failed to materialize. In other words, estimates
of oil prices and inflation rates were too high. So, it appears, were
estimates of GDP growth (though we won’t have final figures until next
month).
To assess the predictions, we looked back at the forecasts made in January’s Wall Street Journal survey of economists. The forecasts are presented here, in approximately the order of worst forecast to best.
Crude Oil
Average forecast for December 2015: $63/barrel
Actual as of December 29: about $38/barrel
None of the forecasters in the survey saw the price of oil being
below $40 this month. Throughout the year, economists have continued to
forecast that oil prices would regain some of their lost ground and have been continually disappointed.
Inflation (consumer price index, annual change)
Average forecast for December 2015: 1.6%
Actual as of November 2015: 0.4%
With higher oil prices, the U.S. inflation rate would certainly
be higher. While there’s still a chance for December’s inflation rate to
come in higher than November’s, it’s looking likely that economists
will have significantly overestimated the amount of inflation in 2015.
The Federal Reserve, it’s worth noting, also expected inflation to
bounce back more sharply. In December 2014, Fed officials forecast an
inflation rate of between 1% and 1.6%. (Fed officials forecast a
separate index, known as the personal consumption expenditures price
index, but it was also at 0.4% in November.)
Federal funds rate (midpoint of target range)
Average forecast for December 2015: 0.89%
Actual: 0.375%
Most forecasters expected the Federal Reserve to be further along
the path of raising interest rates by now. Of course, that’s largely
because of the Fed’s own signals. In December 2014, the Federal Open
Market Committee was planning for higher rates by now. The median Fed
official forecast the rate would be at 1.125% at the end of 2015
(consistent with a range of 1% to 1.25%). So forecasters did a better
job forecasting Fed policy than the Fed itself. But they didn’t go far
enough in doubting the Fed’s stated plans. One key reason the Fed held
off raising rates: Inflation stayed so low.
Real Gross Domestic Product (fourth quarter-over-fourth quarter, percent change)
Average forecast for fourth quarter of 2015: 3%
Actual: due in January. 2.1% as of the third quarter.
The first look at data for the fourth quarter of 2015 won’t be
published until January, but it appears likely that forecasters were too
optimistic. Comparing the third quarter of 2015 to the same period in
2014, the economy only grew 2.1%. Once again, it’s possible to identify
oil as the culprit for a forecasting miss. Many had thought low oil
prices would give consumers a significant lift, but whatever lift people
got from low oil doesn’t appear sufficient to power the economy to 3%
growth.
Home prices (Federal Housing Finance Agency home price index, percent change from year ago)
Average forecast for fourth quarter of 2015: 4.1%
Actual as of October 2015: 6.1%
It’s becoming something of a cliche to view economists as
generally too optimistic, and the reputation is partially fair because
few expected the recovery from the recession and global financial crisis
of 2007 to 2009 to take this long. But when it came to home prices in
2015, it appears economists weren’t nearly optimistic enough. They
projected home prices would climb about 4.1% this year, but as of
October, the home price index was 6.1% higher than a year ago.
Unemployment rate
Average forecast for December 2015: 5.2%
Actual as of November 2015: 5%
Forecasts for the labor market appear to have done pretty well.
Expectations that the unemployment rate would continue its decline
proved correct. The unemployment rate could still tick down, or up,
slightly when the final December figure is released next week, but it
appears economists did fairly well on this one.
Payrolls (average monthly change in total nonfarm employment)
Average forecast for 2015: 231,000
Actual for 12 months through November: 219,000
Economists appear to have been very close with their forecasts
that the economy would continue to add somewhat over 200,000 jobs a
month.
Wages (average hourly wages, annual percent change)
Forecast for December 2015: 2.6%
Actual as of November: 2.3%
It also looks like economists were right to expect some
acceleration in wage growth. December figures will be released along
with the next monthly jobs report. Wage growth was running at 2.3% in
November and 2.5% in October. Slightly stronger wage growth in December
and this forecast could be right on the nose.
Recession (Odds of recession starting in 2015)
Forecast for 2015: 12%
Actual: highly unlikely that a recession started in 2015
The odds of a new recession starting in 2015 were deemed to be very low, and it looks like economists got that right. The
National Bureau of Economic Research determines, with quite a lag, when
the U.S. enters recession. For example, the last recession officially
began on December 2007, but the NBER waited until December 2008 to
announce that determination. The NBER generally waits until the most
important data has all been produced and gone through some revisions so
that it can be confident in its calls. It’s always possible today’s data
will be revised to show the economy was much worse than it looked
initially. But the ongoing strength in the labor market and expansion of
GDP make it pretty unlikely that any point in 2015 will be considered
the start of a recession.
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