Federal Reserve Beige Book: Economic activity remained flat in recent weeks, labor demand was weak

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, released on Wednesday, showed that U.S. economic activity was essentially flat in recent weeks, with overall consumer spending declining slightly. Employment levels were broadly stable, with labor demand subdued; at the same time, prices continued to rise, with several regions reporting faster increases in input costs. Discussions on labor market trends indicated that the labor market had softened slightly over the past six weeks. The Beige Book noted that "labor demand was broadly subdued across regions and industries" and that "more employers reported reducing their workforces through layoffs and attrition," a deterioration from comments that employment was "little to unchanged" in most regions in September. However, the report also noted that "wages increased in all regions, and overall, the pace of growth was modest to moderate," while wages did not increase in several regions in September.