Highlights of the Beige Book prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and based on information collected before October 6, 2014.

  • Employment continued to expand at about the same pace as reported in the previous Beige Book
  • Consumer spending grew in most districts at rates similar to last Beige Book
  • Growth modest in a number of districts, though several reported upward wage pressures
  • No worries about stronger dollar
  • Full text

It’s the regular optimism from the Fed, nothing much for markets to chew on here.

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts generally described modest to moderate economic growth at a pace similar to that noted in the previous Beige Book. Moderate growth was reported by the Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts, while modest growth was reported by the New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, and Kansas City Districts. In the Boston District, reports from business contacts painted a mixed picture of economic conditions. In addition, several Districts noted that contacts were generally optimistic about future activity.

Back to panicking about the stock market and ebola.