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With Powell telling Congress that a 25 bps rate hike in two weeks is in the bag, moments ago the latest Fed Beige Book validated the cheerful economic outlook, noting that based on information collected before February 18, 2022, US economy activity expanded at “a modest to moderate pace since mid-January.” Of course, all this will change now following the Ukraine war but we’ll cross that bridge when the next Beige Book is released on April 20. While covid is now a distant memory with mandates falling left and right as the US has a new crisis to obsess over,...

January’s Beige Book was once again headlined by the utterly useless comment that “economic activity across the United States expanded at a modest pace in the final weeks of 2021” that has come to reflect the snoozy name of the report. And while we saw recurring and familiar themes mentioned over and over, including supply chain issues and labor shortages, the report noted some signs of easing inflation perhaps as a result of Omicron (which was mentioned no less than 44 times) began to hit activity. That said, there were few big picture surprises, with the report noting that growth...

Fed's Liar Book (Beige Book)Posted at: 2010-09-08 13:23 by Genesis in category Federal ReserveKarl Denninger Without further doo-doo.... Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggested continued growth in national economic activity during the reporting period of mid-July through the end of August, but with widespread signs of a deceleration compared with preceding periods. The economy is falling off a cliff. My favorite Sushi Place went under the other day. Nobody has a damn job. EnTITlement spending is holding the rioters at bay - for now. Consumer spending appeared to increase on balance despite continued consumer caution that limited nonessential...

The majority of Districts reported flat retail sales. Loan demand was described as weak and many Districts reported that credit standards remained tight. Consumer spending remained soft in most Districts. The majority of Districts reported that retail activity was flat. Reports on house prices generally indicated ongoing downward pressures Reports on commercial real estate markets indicated that demand for space remained weak and that construction continued to decline in all Districts. Demand for transportation services were mixed, with some Districts noting stabilization at weak levels. Most Districts reported modest improvements in the manufacturing sector. Labor market conditions remained weak across...

September 7, 2005 Summary Skip to content Summary Districts Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Full report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and based on information collected before August 29, 2005 and, thus, before Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve System and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials. Economic activity increased across the nation from mid-July through August, except in the Boston District, where activity...

January 14, 2004 Summary Skip to content Summary Districts Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Full report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and based on information collected before January 6, 2004. This document summarizes comments received from businesses and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials. Reports from Federal Reserve Districts suggest that the nation's economy has continued to improve since the last survey. The strongest report came from the San Francisco district, which...

UPDATE - US economy gains broadly based in Oct, Nov -- Fed Wednesday November 26, 12:26 pm ET (adds details, background) WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - More signs emerged that the U.S. economic recovery was on track in October and early November, as labor markets stabilized and retail spending rose, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT "Descriptions of the pace of growth varied somewhat. But improvements appeared to be reasonably broadly based, with most districts noting growth in a number of industries," the Fed said in its "beige book" report, an anecdotal look at the national economy compiled from...

October 15, 2003 Summary Skip to content Summary Districts Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Full report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and based on information collected before October 7, 2003. This document summarizes comments received from businesses and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials. Information received from District Banks suggests that, on balance, the pace of economic expansion has picked up since the last report. Ten of the twelve districts indicate that...

September 3, 2003 Summary Skip to content Summary Districts Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Full report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and based on information collected before August 25, 2003. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials. Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve districts indicate that the economy continued to improve in July and August. Eleven districts say that activity levels increased during the summer. In...

July 30, 2003 Summary Skip to content Summary Districts Boston New York Philadelphia Cleveland Richmond Atlanta Chicago St. Louis Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Francisco Full report Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and based on information collected before July 21, 2003. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials. Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve districts provided additional signs that the pace of economic activity increased a notch during June and the first half of July. Only the...

Fed Beige Book: Econ Still Lackluster In Mar, Early Apr Beige Bk: Iraq War, Poor Weather Hurt Consumer Spending Beige Bk:Too Early To Tell Full War Impact On Confidence Beige Bk: Firms Optimistic On Retail Outlook Next 6 Mos Beige Bk: Labor Mkts Soft, But Some Signs Of Improvement Beige Bk:Manufacturing Still Weak, But Some Growth Cited Beige Bk: Firms Cautious On Spending; Housing Mkt Strong Beige Bk: No Wage Pressures; Insurance, Health Costs Up Beige Book -2: Report Covers Length Of Iraq War WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. economy continued to struggle in March and early April as the war...