The Beige Book Is Back

The Federal Reserve’s eight-times-a-year Beige Book was issued earlier this week, with its on-the-ground look at economic activity in the various areas of the country. New Jersey, as always, is divided between the reports from the New York office and the Philadelphia office, so the differences between the two are always interesting to see.

That unusually harsh winter weather was a hindrance to New York’s tourism activity, but it helped in Philadelphia’s, which covers ski resorts and other winter tourist destinations in the Poconos. But one common denominator in both areas was that economic activity has started to bounce back after the bad weather. A key difference: Lending activity appears to be stronger in the New York area, where it is reported improved, while it is just up slightly in the Philadelphia area.

The biggest bounceback in that southern region was that auto sales were up “robustly.” Meanwhile, in the northern region, manufacturing and service-sector firms showed the most improvement over the past couple of months. All told, both areas reported that the economy continues to improve steadily but moderately.