Beige Book Indicates 'Price Pressures' at Banks

The Federal Reserve said all 12 of its regional bank districts reported "elevated or increasing" price pressures during June and July amid slower economic growth.

Five of the districts indicated "a weakening or softening" in their economies, and consumer spending was "sluggish or slowing" in every region, the central bank said yesterday in its economic survey, known as the Beige Book for the color of its cover.

The survey reinforced testimony by the chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, to lawmakers this month indicating that risks to both growth and inflation are increasing. Central bank policy makers differ over whether to increase the benchmark interest rate or leave it unchanged.

"The most changes have come about in prices being paid by consumers and by businesses," the president of the Philadelphia Fed, Charles Plosser, said yesterday in an interview.