Fed Beige book shows ‘widespread’ job gains

The Federal Reserve said “employment gains were widespread across districts” as the world’s largest economy continued to expand amid gains in consumer spending and lower gasoline prices.

“A number of districts also noted that contacts remained optimistic about the outlook for future economic activity,” the Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey, based on reports gathered on or before Nov. 24. Consumer spending continued to advance in most regions, helped in part by lower oil prices, the Fed said.

The report gives the Federal Open Market Committee anecdotal information about the economy ahead of the panel’s Dec. 16-17 meeting in Washington.

“Overall price and wage inflation remained subdued,” the report said, while some districts saw a “slight to moderate” rise in labor costs. Most regions said manufacturing activity was stronger.

This story was originally published December 3, 2014 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Fed Beige book shows ‘widespread’ job gains."