Fed's Beige Book: Midwest contraction

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Whereas some industries experienced substantial drop in activity during the pastsix weeks, modest increasezs in other sectors led the Fed to characterizer the Ninth District’s contraction as The Ninth Federal District includes Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northwestern Consumer spending and tourism were still weak, but had “improvedc somewhat from the previouz few months,” according to the Fed.
The service sectodr continued to experiencedecreased revenue, employment and profitz compared to a year ago, and further profit contraction is The Fed characterized the commercial real estate sectord as “anemic,” adding that residentialo construction continued at steadily low The residential real estatw market did see more activityu than in the previous reporting period. Manufacturing continuedr its slide, as did energy and mining. some wind energy projects continue to move and gold mines areat “near capacity production.” Labor marketw continued to struggle.
Job cuts in Minnesota, many of them in the health careand medical-device fields, were cited by the Fed in its assessmenft of labor conditions. Wage increases were and firms surveyed by the Fed expect toincreasr employees’ wages by 1.8 percent over the next Price increases, however, were “subdued,” with the risinyg cost of gas a notable exception, the Fed The Fed’s next Beige Book report is due July 29.