ECONOMY: “Economic growth slowed across parts of the U.S. in recent weeks, and some firms have become a bit less optimistic about the future, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve.
‘A majority of districts reported that firms expressed positive near-term outlooks; however, optimism waned somewhat in a few districts,’ the Fed said Wednesday [5-31-17] in its latest roundup of anecdotal information about regional economic conditions, known as the beige book. The report was based on information collected through May 22 across the central bank’s 12 districts.
Broadly, the Fed said economic growth was modest in seven districts, moderate in four districts and ‘flattened out’ in the New York Fed district. The prior beige book, released April 19, said activity expanded in all 12 regions with the pace equally split between moderate and modest. In Fed parlance, ‘moderate’ is stronger than ‘modest.’ “
-Ben Leubsdorf, “Fed’s Beige Book Reports Slower Growth, Less Optimism in Some Regions,” The Wall Street Journal online, May 31, 2017 03:00pm