Beige Book: Most Districts indicated little change in economic activity since Sept report

<ul><li> Consumer spending was mixed</li><li>Tourism activity continued to improve</li><li> Consumer credit quality was generally described as stable or healthy</li><li>Real estate conditions were little changed and the inventory of homes for sale remained low</li><li>Manufacturing activity was mixed, although contacts across multiple Districts noted an improving outlook for the sector</li><li>The near-term outlook for the economy was generally described as stable
or having slightly weaker growth. </li><li>Expectations of firms for which the
holiday shopping season is an important driver of sales were mixed.</li><li>Labor market tightness continued to ease across the nation</li><li>Prices continued to increase at a modest pace overall</li><li>Districts noted that input cost increases have slowed or stabilized for
manufacturers but continue to rise for services sector firms</li><li> firms expect prices to increase the next few quarters, but at a slower rate than the previous few quarters</li><li><a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202310.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Full text</a></li></ul><p>I thought we might see some more downcast commentary but it's not really here. It doesn't sound like the strong economy that the 5% Atlanta Fed GDPNow number highlights but it certainly doesn't sound like a recession is imminent and there are more signs that the manufacturing recession is ending.</p>

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.