The latest Beige Book from January 14 is now available here.   The Beige Book is a report from the Federal Reserve Board produced eight times per year.  It forecasts 12 cities and provides anecdotal information on current economic conditions, based on information gathered from interviews with business contacts, economists, market experts, and other.  Selected notes follow on three select cities.  I recommend reading the full report of the city closest to you.


Boston - Slowing business activity, and weak sales for the holiday months of November and December, but consulting and advertising firms enjoyed stable demand for business.  Commercial real estate continued to weaken, with contacts describing the situation as “grim” and “depressing.” Southern Rhode Island has 4 to 5 years of supply of office space currently on the market.  In the residential market, home prices continued to drop sharply.  Read the entire Boston report here.

Chicago - Consumer spending decreased, despite heavy discounting.  Business spending continued to decline.  Construction activity declined.   Manufacturing saw lower orders and production cuts throughout the region.  Credit conditions remained tight, and loan demand has weakened.  [Geldpress Note:  this is not the first I have seen this.  Some of the banks reluctance to lend is due to lack of demand!]  Commercial developers are reporting more project delays and cancellations.

San Francisco – Commodity and energy prices continued to fall.  Retail prices were held down by continued discounting.  Demand for services declined, including demand for health care. [Geldpress note:  Health Care is more optional than once thought.]  Sales of technology products slowed substantially, accompanied with significant layoffs in some companies.  Agriculture demand was stable.   Housing market activity in the District remained “feeble“.  Construction activity was “very limited“.  Commercial and industrial loan volumes are at a very low level.

Check the Beige Book link for the full reports on all cities – Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco.