Fed's Beige Book Indicates Business Is 'Slow'

Business across most of America was "slow" last month, while almost all Federal Reserve districts reported pressure to raise prices because of higher commodity costs, the central bank said in its regional economic survey.

Consumer spending was "slow" in most of the 12 Fed districts as housing "weakened or remained soft," the Fed said in its Beige Book report, published two weeks before officials meet to set interest rates. A "general pullback in hiring" helped keep wage increases "moderate," the Fed said yesterday. With the economy weakening under the impact of the yearlong financial crisis and housing recession, and consumer prices rising, most investors anticipate the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged through December. Policy makers have lowered the rate 3.25 percentage points over the past year. The picture of the economy "is a troubling one," a former Fed economist, John Ryding, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.