US economy little changed in recent weeks: Fed's Beige Book
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U.S. economic activity was little changed over the last month and a half, as labor market tightness continued to ease and prices continued to increase at a modest pace, according to a Federal Reserve report published on Wednesday.
«The near-term outlook for the economy was generally described as stable or having slightly weaker growth,» the Fed said in the latest «Beige Book,» a compendium of surveys, interviews and observations gathered across the central bank's 12 districts, from Boston to San Francisco, through Oct. 6. «Overall, firms expect prices to increase the next few quarters, but at a slower rate than the previous few quarters,» it said.
Five of the 12 regional Fed districts reported modest growth, three saw little or no change, and four described modest contraction – the largest number experiencing overall weakening since January, when many analysts were forecasting a recession.
FED MEETING MINUTES INDICATE INTEREST RATES COULD REMAIN HIGH FOR 'SOME TIME'
That hasn't happened, but the mixed report shows the divide, highlighted by a number of policymakers, between «hard» data they see showing an economy bounding along at an above-trend clip and the stories they pick up from their districts portraying a far-softer environment.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 2023. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The economy-is-nearing-stall-speed vibe of Wednesday's report is somewhat at odds with a slew of government data in recent weeks that
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