Why Watch the Fed?
Not only does the Federal Reserve make monetary policy decisions, but it also provides timely insight on current economic conditions across the United States in the “Beige Book” report.
In addition to broad economic conditions, the report often includes commentary on local employment, temporary help employment, and wage pressures.
The Beige Book reports on economic activity by Federal Reserve districts:
| Boston |
Chicago |
| New York |
St. Louis |
| Philadelphia |
Minneapolis |
| Cleveland |
Kansas City |
| Richmond |
Dallas |
| Atlanta |
San Francisco |
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Every six weeks, the Federal Reserve Board produces a report on current economic conditions for each of the Federal Reserve districts. Commonly called the "Beige Book," the report is published just before each Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on interest rates to provide information on changes in the economy since its last meeting.
The report includes an overall summary of all districts, as well as individual district reports on local economic conditions by sector. District reports provide anecdotal commentary from district bank and branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources.
Current Data
The Beige Book is published every six weeks, prior to FOMC meetings. The report is generally released at 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesdays.
To access the current Beige Book report, as well as an archive of previous reports:
- Go to the Federal Reserve home page
- Click on "Monetary Policy" from the left hand navigation bar
- Then select "Beige Book" from the "Reports" section
- Click on "Report" directly beneath the date of the report you wish to view
ASA reports information from the Beige Book for each district in the issue of Staffing Week immediately following release of the report. View the most recent article, and see the Beige Book report schedule for this year by visiting the Staffing Statistics section on americanstaffing.net.
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