Fed 'beige book' survey finds economy grew in July, early August
The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy continued to expand gradually in July and early August as improvement in housing and retail sales helped outweigh weakness in manufacturing.
Most regional Fed banks reported that employment was "holding steady or growing only slightly," the Fed said Wednesday in its so-called beige book business survey.
Retail and auto sales increased since the last beige book report in most districts, the Fed said. "Many districts reported some softening in manufacturing, either a slowdown in the rate of growth or a decline in the level of sales," the report said.
The beige book gives policymakers anecdotal evidence on the economy before their Sept. 12-13 meeting in Washington. Policymakers said at their July 31-Aug. 1 gathering that further action would probably be needed "fairly soon" without evidence of "substantial and sustainable" improvement in the recovery, minutes released last week showed.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-beige-book-20120829,0,7649160.story