Beige Book Released By Federal Reserve for November

The Federal Reserve just published their latest issue of the Beige Book.  It is available online.

The following is a brief list of it's overall (national) summary findings (using data as of November 20th):

1. Economic activity continued to experience moderate growth with a few exceptions since the last report. 

2. Consumer spending increased overall, but with regional variation of the rate of increase. Most districts reported continued softness in vehicle sales and weakness in home-related products.

3. Tourism was generally positive.
 
4. Activity in the service sector remained healthy in most Districts but with softness is some areas, such as as related to home-building and auto-related products.
 
5. Manufacturing conditions were generally postive, except for home-building related materials which have trailed off substantially.
 
6. Commercial construction gained strength in most of the country.
 
7. Overall, residential real estate indicated overall housing activity continued to slow, especially in the single family segment, with weak conditions expection to over the next several months.
 
8. Financial institutions reported mixed lending activity with fewer mortgage originations, but with commercial and industrial loans stable of slightly higher in most Districts.
 
9. Agricultural conditions were generally good.  Activity in the energy and mining sectors was robust.
 
10. A number of Districts reported that labor markets remained tight since the last report, especially for high-skilled occupations.  Wage growth remained moderate with faster growth for some specialized professions. While the majority of Districts characterized overall prices as moderated, especially for construction materials and energy products.
 
Note: This represents the national summary for ALL districts combined.  The report also provides more detail on each item summarized nationally, as well as reporting by each district on all items.
 
 
 
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