Factoring in Late-Cycle Fiscal Stimulus

This Macroeconomic Outlook is excerpted from the First Quarter 2017 Fixed-Income Outlook.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the fourth quarter was solid but unspectacular, like most of the post-crisis period. The initial estimate came in at 1.9 percent, slightly below expectations and down from 3.5 percent in the third quarter. The quarterly volatility seen in the second half of 2016 resulted mainly from large swings in the contribution of net exports. Smoothing through the quarterly noise reveals a trend-like pace of 1.9 percent real GDP growth over the past year.

Fiscal stimulus and deregulation are about to give the U.S. economy a shot in the arm. We expect the combination of corporate and individual tax cuts plus infrastructure spending to lift growth into the 2.5–3.0 percent range over the next couple of years, with the largest impact likely to be seen in 2018. In the meantime, growth should benefit from recent gains in consumer and business confidence, which will support consumption and investment spending as precautionary savings are reduced.

We forecast the unemployment rate to fall below 4 percent before the end of the expansion as faster GDP growth boosts employment while demographic constraints limit gains in the size of the labor force. This would be well below the Fed’s estimate of the natural rate of unemployment; however, we believe the Trump administration’s fiscal agenda will not push up inflation materially because the Fed will respond by tightening monetary policy faster. While CPI inflation will rise in the first quarter due to the receding effects of low oil prices, we forecast a subsequent decline as base effects fade and a stronger dollar helps to contain import prices. These forces, combined with our forecast that crude oil prices will average less than $60 per barrel in 2017, should help keep inflation near the Fed’s target this year.

Nevertheless, Fed policymakers will raise the fed funds rate at a faster pace than the market is currently pricing in. This should cause the yield curve to flatten as rates in the short end rise while the long end is stabilized by confidence in the Fed’s willingness to contain inflation. Our research indicates that the terminal rate at the end of this hiking cycle will be near 3 percent. We expect three Fed rate increases in 2017, amid upside risks to growth and downside risks to unemployment. The next hike will most likely occur in June, but action at the March FOMC meeting is still plausible. We do not think the Fed will begin to shrink its balance sheet until well into 2018, and we expect any such shift to be telegraphed well in advance as Fed officials seek to avoid another “taper tantrum.”

—Brian Smedley, Head of Macroeconomic and Investment Research; Maria Giraldo, CFA, Vice President

Important Notices and Disclosures

This article is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investing advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. It contains opinions of the authors but not necessarily those of Guggenheim Partners or its subsidiaries. The authors’ opinions are subject to change without notice. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but are not assured as to accuracy. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Investing involves risk. In general, the value of fixed-income securities fall when interest rates rise. High-yield securities present more liquidity and credit risk than investment grade bonds and may be subject to greater volatility. Asset-backed securities, including mortgage-backed securities, may have structures that make their reaction to interest rates and other factors difficult to predict, making their prices volatile and they are subject to liquidity risk. Investments in floating rate senior secured syndicated bank loans and other floating rate securities involve special types of risks, including credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and prepayment risk. Guggenheim Investments represents the following affiliated investment management businesses of Guggenheim Partners, LLC: Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC, Security Investors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Funds Distributors, LLC, Guggenheim Real Estate, LLC, GS GAMMA Advisors, LLC, Guggenheim Partners Europe Limited and Guggenheim Partners India Management. ©2017, Guggenheim Partners, LLC. No part of this article may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission of Guggenheim Partners, LLC.

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Brian Smedley, Head of Macroeconomic and Investment Research, discusses major trends likely to shape markets this year.

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