5 Mar 2014
Fed's Beige Book: All about weather, but US remains on the recovery path
FXStreet (San Francisco) - The United States suffered severe weather conditions in February that slowed down the pace in retail sales and hiring according to the latest beige Book released by the Federal Reserve.
"Eight Districts reported improved levels of activity, but in most cases the increases were characterized as modest to moderate," said the report. "New York and Philadelphia experienced a slight decline in activity, which was mostly attributed to the unusually severe weather experienced in those regions. Growth slowed in Chicago, and Kansas City reported that conditions remained stable during the reporting period. The outlook among most Districts remained optimistic."
According to the Beige Book, the real states sector is continuing to expand in the past month. "Many Districts continued to report improving conditions but noted that growth had slowed. Most of the Districts indicating otherwise attributed the slowing pace of improvement to unusually severe winter weather conditions."
Employment improved gradually for most districts. "the pace of hiring had reportedly softened in Boston, Richmond, and Chicago, with those Districts attributing at least part of the recent slowdown to unusually bad winter weather. Despite a pickup in hiring in some sectors across New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, and St. Louis, notably in manufacturing, overall employment growth for these Districts remained sluggish."
"Eight Districts reported improved levels of activity, but in most cases the increases were characterized as modest to moderate," said the report. "New York and Philadelphia experienced a slight decline in activity, which was mostly attributed to the unusually severe weather experienced in those regions. Growth slowed in Chicago, and Kansas City reported that conditions remained stable during the reporting period. The outlook among most Districts remained optimistic."
According to the Beige Book, the real states sector is continuing to expand in the past month. "Many Districts continued to report improving conditions but noted that growth had slowed. Most of the Districts indicating otherwise attributed the slowing pace of improvement to unusually severe winter weather conditions."
Employment improved gradually for most districts. "the pace of hiring had reportedly softened in Boston, Richmond, and Chicago, with those Districts attributing at least part of the recent slowdown to unusually bad winter weather. Despite a pickup in hiring in some sectors across New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, and St. Louis, notably in manufacturing, overall employment growth for these Districts remained sluggish."