Fed's Beige Book: Midwest contraction

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Whereas some industries experienced substantial drops in activityt during the pastsix weeks, modest increasesz in other sectors led the Fed to characterizse the Ninth District’s contraction as moderating. The Ninth Federal Districrt includes Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northwestern Consumer spending and tourism werestill weak, but had “improved somewhat from the previous few according to the Fed. The servics sector continued to experiencedecreased revenue, employmeng and profits compared to a year ago, and further profi t contraction is likely.
The Fed characterized the commercial real estate sector as adding that residential construction continued at steadilhylow levels. The residential real estate market did see more activitgy than in the previous reporting Manufacturing continuedits slide, as did energyt and mining. However, some wind energyg projects continue tomove forward, and gold mines are at “near capacityy production.” Labor markets continued to Job cuts in Minnesota, many of them in the health care and medical-devicee fields, were cited by the Fed in its assessmen of labor conditions. Wage increases were modest, and firmsw surveyed by the Fed expecg toincrease employees’ wages by 1.
8 percentg over the next year. Price increases, however, were with the rising cost of gas anotabled exception, the Fed reported. The Fed’s next Beige Book report is dueJuly 29.