The U.S. economy has maintained steady growth between the months of August and September, the U.S. Federal Reserve reports.
This was reported in the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book report, which was a survey of economic conditions in their 12 regional bank districts. Their findings show that growth was modest or moderate in eight districts, there was slight economic growth in three, and flat in the New York district.
Overall, this represented an improvement from the Beige Book’s September survey, which found weakened growth in two districts.
The Feds believe the economy “remained tight” with modest employment and wage growth, but there was no one pattern across the board besides wage growth. There were layoffs in New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Richmond districts.
Additionally, three districts noted a rising pressure for certain sectors. These districts, Dallas, Richmond, and San Francisco, blamed the shortage of construction workers, which constrained building activity. However, there are 7.8 million production workers in the U.S. construction industry alone, so experts are trying to figure out how exactly to bring the construction sector into these suffering communities.
The Beige Book’s picture of a modestly improving economy is consistent with the estimates of many economists nationwide. They believe that growth will quicken by a roughly two percent to 2.5% annual pace come next July. Overall, this would be up from a measly 1.1% pace from the first half of this year.
According to Bloomberg, the housing markets expanded in the majority of districts, and the oil and gas sector was showing promising signs of stabilizing. But, commercial-real-estate sectors nationwide expressed an extreme concern over economic uncertainty in light of the upcoming presidential election.
For now, the Beige Book brings great news of optimism for the American economy. The next meeting of the Feds will be in November.