On Friday the jobs report showed
More money, to more people flowed
Earnings per hour
Has gained firepower
So interest rate hikes won’t be slowed

The market response, though, was bleak
With equity prices quite weak
However the buck
Had much better luck
And soared like a jet, so to speak

As the week begins, we have seen the dollar cede some of the gains it made in Friday’s session. That move was a direct result of the payroll data, where not only did NFP beat expectations at 201K, but the Average Hourly Earnings number printed at 0.4% for the month and 2.9% annualized. That result was the fastest pace of wage growth since 2009 and significantly higher than the market anticipated. It should be no surprise that the market response was higher interest rates and a concurrently stronger dollar. Overall, the dollar was higher by a solid 0.5% and 10-year Treasury yields jumped 5bps on the day.

Wage growth has been the key missing ingredient from the economic data for the past several years as economists continue to try to figure out why record low unemployment has not been able to drive wages higher. The Fed reaction function has always been predicated on the idea that once unemployment declines past NAIRU (Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment), more frequently known as the natural rate of unemployment, that wages will rise based on increased demand for a shrinking supply of workers. Yet the Fed’s models have been unable to explain the situation this cycle, where unemployment has fallen to 50 year lows without the expected wage inflation. And of course, the one thing every politician wants (and Fed members are clearly politicians regardless of what they say) is for the population to make more money. So, if Friday’s data is an indication that wage growth is finally starting to pick up, it will encourage Powell and friends to continue hiking rates.

This was made clear on Friday by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, who had been a reliable dovish voice for a long time, when he explained to the WSJ that the Fed’s current pace of quarterly rate hikes was clearly appropriate and that there need to be at least four more before they start to consider any policy changes. There was no discussion of inverting the yield curve, nor did he speak about the trade situation. It should not be surprising that the Fed Funds futures market responded by bidding up the probability of a December rate hike to 81% with the September hike already a virtual certainty.

But that was then and this is now. This morning has seen a much less exciting session with the dollar edging slightly lower overall, although still showing strength against its emerging market counterparts. Looking at the G10, the picture is mixed, with the euro and pound both firmer by 0.15% or so. The former looks to be a trading response to Friday’s decline, while the latter is benefitting, ever so slightly, from better than expected GDP data with July’s print at 0.3% and the 3-month rate at 0.6%. We’ve also seen AUD rally 0.25%, as firmer commodity prices seem to be underpinning the currency today. However, both CHF and JPY are softer this morning, with the Swiss franc the weakest of the bunch, down 0.65%.

In the EMG space, however, the picture is quite different, with INR making yet another new historic low as the market continues to respond to Friday’s worse than expected current account deficit. The rupee has fallen a further 0.85% on the day. We’ve also seen weakness in CNY (-0.25%), RUB (-0.45%) and MXN (-0.2%). But some of the biggest decliners of recent vintage, TRY and ZAR, have rebounded from their worst levels, although they are still off significantly this year.

Looking ahead to this week, the data is fairly light with just CPI and Retail Sales in the back half of the week, although we also get the Fed’s Beige Book on Wednesday.

There are also a number of Fed speakers this week, but I have to say that it seems increasingly unlikely that there will be any new views coming from them. The doves have already made their case, and the hawks continue to be in the ascendancy.

Net, I see no reason to believe that anything in the market has really changed for now. Rate expectations remain for higher US rates, and growth elsewhere continues to be okay but not great. Ultimately, things still point to a higher dollar in my view. Not forever, but for now.

Good luck
Adf