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Title: Fed's 'Beige Book' Shows Improvement In US Economy, Moderate Growth
Source:
WP
URL Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy ... 204477.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Published: Mar 2, 2011
Author: Neil Irwin
Post Date: 2011-03-02 17:25:53 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 988
Comments: 1
The economy continued growing at a moderate speed at the beginning of 2011, with conditions improving gradually in a wide range of industries, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve. The pace of expansion was "modest to moderate" in January and early February, according to the "beige book," an eight-times-a-year compilation of anecdotal reports about the economy issued by the Fed. It represents an improvement from the previous installment of the report, issued in mid-January. The details of the latest beige book, which is prepared in advance of each Fed policy meeting to help leaders of the central bank set monetary policy, show a broadening recovery. For example, retail sales were said to have increased in 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve districts, despite the impact of snowstorms in large parts of the country. Six of the 12 experienced improvement in the long-suffering commercial real estate sector. And 11 of the 12 "experienced solid growth in manufacturing production." The job market also showed progress. "Labor market conditions continued to strengthen modestly," the beige book said, "with all Districts reporting some degree of improvement." It added that across large swaths of the country - areas served by Federal Reserve banks in Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas - there were "optimistic reports from staffing agencies." In a more worrisome sign, however, higher fuel prices seemed to be spreading. "Manufacturing and retail contacts across Districts reported rising input costs," the beige book said. "Manufacturers in many Districts conveyed that they were passing through higher input costs to customers or planned to do so in the near future." The tourism industry improved in the Fed districts based in Richmond, Atlanta and San Francisco, the beige book said, while the housing sector was uneven across the country. The new beige book matches other indicators of the economy recently, particularly a wide variety of business surveys, showing some acceleration in growth as 2011 begins. For example, the Institute for Supply Management's survey of manufacturers last month showed the fastest pace of expansion since 2004. On Friday, the Labor Department will report on the February employment situation, a key indicator of whether the job market is on track as the impact of January snowstorms faded.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Oh, yeah... They NEVER lie, do they? Their message (and yours, by tacit acceptance of this bullshit, when you post it) is: "Believe me, not your LYING eyes...!" Assholes.
Socialist ass-hats think "There will be no more money when the U.S. dollar has no value, until that time we can keep printing more." And yes, that IS from LF's answer to Ben Bernanke, go65, leading disfunctional and delusional socialist of the forum. "You want me to kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, I'll kill THE ENEMIES of Jappos, Rebs, or Sioux, or Cheyenne... For 500 bucks a month I'll kill whoever you want. But keep one thing in mind: I'd happily kill you for free." Algren, "The Last Samurai" according to a new report from the Federal Reserve.
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