Highlights of the Beige Book:
- Nearly all districts noted modest improvement in labor availability amid weaker demand for workers
- On balance pricing power was steady though some notes of slower demand
- Most districts continued to report wage growth
- Housing demand weakened noticeably
- New auto sales remained sluggish due to low inventory
- Full report
This is an interesting shift on the labor market. Non-farm payrolls have remained strong but there are some slight cracks, which could mean some people have returned to the labor market, or there was more slack on the sidelines than believed. That's something that the Fed wanted to see.
