The Federal Reserve’s “beige book” reported modest improvement in economic conditions since the previous report, with eight districts reporting improvement and the remaining four — Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, and Atlanta — reporting conditions little changed and-or mixed.
Consumer spending picked up moderately, with a number of districts reporting relatively robust sales of used autos. Most districts said non-auto retailers were holding lean inventories going into the holiday season.
“Manufacturing conditions were said to be, on balance, steady to moderately improving across most of the country, while conditions in the non-financial service sector generally strengthened somewhat, though with some variation across districts and across industries,” according to the report.
Residential real estate improved somewhat, with most districts reporting some pickup in home sales, though prices were flat or declining modestly.
