Fed's Beige Book: Midwest contraction

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Whereas some industries experienceds substantial drops in activity during the pastsix weeks, modesg increases in other sectors led the Fed to characterize the Ninty District’s contraction as moderating. The Ninth Federal District includesa Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South the Upper Peninsula of Michigan andnorthwestern Wisconsin. Consumer spending and touris m werestill weak, but had “improved somewhat from the previouz few months,” according to the Fed. The service sectoer continued to experiencedecreased revenue, employment and profitss compared to a year ago, and furthert profit contraction is likely.
The Fed characterized the commercial real estatde sectoras “anemic,” adding that residential construction continued at steadily low The residential real estatre market did see more activity than in the previoua reporting period. Manufacturing continued its slide, as did energy and However, some wind energy projectes continue tomove forward, and gold mines are at “near capacit y production.” Labor markets continued to struggle. Job cuts in many of them in the health careand medical-devicd fields, were cited by the Fed in its assessment of labor conditions. Wage increases were and firms surveyed by the Fed expect toincrease employees’ wages by 1.
8 percentg over the next year. Price however, were “subdued,” with the rising cost of gas a notable theFed reported. The Fed’s next Beige Book reporg is dueJuly 29.