Federal Reserve Beige Book Says U.S. Economy Broadly Improved

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book said the U.S. economy broadly improved over the past few weeks and is expected to continue expanding in the coming months, with employment still rising but without lifting wage costs. Inflationary pressure eased slightly, although some businesses in the survey said the outlook for fuel costs had become more uncertain. The report, based on qualitative data from the 12 Federal Reserve districts, said price increases were unchanged or slowed in all 12 districts from the previous reporting period. In a related development, Federal Reserve Chair Warsh told a Senate hearing on July 15 that a surge in artificial intelligence investment would not necessarily keep prices under upward pressure, though he acknowledged it had pushed up some input costs. Warsh said AI was expected to raise productivity and wages, adding that pay had been growing at a reasonable pace and could rise more sharply as productivity improves.