The U.S. economy grew at a modest rate in the final months of 2019, according to a new Federal Reserve survey.
The Fed concluded from its survey that a deterioration in manufacturing employment belied overall tight job market conditions across the country. The central bank's Beige Book economic report, based on anecdotal information collected by the 12 regional Fed banks through January 6 also showed inflation at the consumer and producer levels "continued to rise at a modest pace."
The Beige Book, prepared by the New York Fed, supports central bankers' December decision to leave interest rates unchanged following three cuts earlier in 2019. Most officials favored keeping rates on hold for all of 2020, their projections showed, unless there was a material change in the economic outlook. American unemployment stood at a half-century low of 3.5% in December.
The Fed’s preferred gauge of price pressures excluding food and energy rose 1.6% in the year through November. Inflation has run persistently below the central bank’s 2% target for most of the past seven years.
