Beige Book Shows Solid Consumer Spending Led By Car Sales

The latest Federal Reserve Beige Book released on Wednesday afternoon showed modest to moderate growth in all 12 Fed regions. Federal Reserve officials believe the economy has been strengthening and the challenging winter with the severe snowstorms is finally behind us. Lending activities were up and so was consumer spending, particularly on cars. Commercial real estate was also stronger compared to the previous report. The area that officials believe still has a lot more room to grow is the labor market. That being said, survey reported that within the Kansas City district, employers had to compete for potential employees, and the Atlanta region saw a jump in the number of workers leaving temp jobs for permanent positions. The officials didn't comment specifically on their plans to raise interest rates, but the bond market is selling off.