美联储褐皮书：当前经济状况评论摘要

ContentsAbout This PublicationNational SummaryFederal Reserve Bank of BostonFederal Reserve Bank of New YorkFederal Reserve Bank of PhiladelphiaFederal Reserve Bank of ClevelandFederal Reserve Bank of RichmondFederal Reserve Bank of AtlantaFederal Reserve Bank of ChicagoFederal Reserve Bank of St. LouisFederal Reserve Bank of MinneapolisFederal Reserve Bank of Kansas CityFederal Reserve Bank of DallasFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco ....................................................................................................ii...........................................................................................................1..................................................................................5..............................................................................8.......................................................................12............................................................................16...........................................................................20................................................................................24..............................................................................27.............................................................................31.......................................................................35........................................................................39..................................................................................43....................................................................47 About This PublicationWhat is the Beige Book?The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditionsacross the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. It characterizes regional economic conditions and pros-pects based on a variety of mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from each District’ssources. Reports are published eight times per year.What is the purpose of the Beige Book?The Beige Book is intended to characterize the change in economic conditions since the lastreport. Outreach for the Beige Book is one of many ways the Federal Reserve System engageswith businesses and other organizations about economic developments in their communities.Because this information is collected from a wide range of contacts through a variety of formaland informal methods, the Beige Book can complement other forms of regional information gath-ering. The Beige Book is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials.How is the information collected?Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers information on current economic conditions in its Districtthrough reports from Bank and Branch directors, plus interviews and online questionnaires com-pleted by businesses, community organizations, economists, market experts, and other sources.Contacts are not selected at random; rather, Banks strive to curate a diverse set of sources thatcan provide accurate and objective information about a broad range of economic activities. TheBeige Book serves as a regular summary of this information for the public.How is the information used?The information from contacts supplements the data and analysis used by Federal Reserve econo-mists and staff to assess economic conditions in the Federal Reserve Districts. The qualitativenature of the Beige Book creates an opportunity to characterize dynamics and identify emergingtrends in the economy that may not be readily apparent in the available economic data. This infor-Note: The Federal Reserve officially identifies Districts by number and Reserve Bank city. In the 12th District, the SeattleBranch serves Alaska, and the San Francisco Bank serves Hawaii. The System serves commonwealths and territories asfollows: the New York Bank serves the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; the San Francisco Bankserves American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Board of Governors revisedthe branch boundaries of the System in February 1996. mation enables comparison of economic conditions in different parts of the country, which can behelpful for assessing the outlook for the national economy.The Beige Book does not have the type of information I’m lookingfor. What other information is available?The Federal Reserve System conducts a wide array of recurring surveys of businesses, house-holds, and community organizations. A list of statistical releases compiled by the Federal ReserveBoard is availablehere, links to each of the Federal Reserve Banks are availablehere, and a sum-mary of the System’s community outreach is availablehere. In addition,Fed Listensevents havebeen held around the country to hear about how monetary policy affects peoples’ daily lives andlivelihoods. The System also relies on a variety ofadvisory councils—whose members are drawnfrom a wide array of businesses, non-profit organizations, and community groups—to hear diverseperspectives on the econom