The Federal Reserve released its “Beige Book” on Wednesday, which reports on our nation’s current economic conditions. Their report was largely positive, causing a recovery among all three major U.S. market indexes.
The key findings in The Fed’s report were that businesses are offering higher wages to their employees, the housing market has improved, and eleven of The Fed’s twelve districts reported moderate or modest growth. This report, which is conducted eight times annually, covers July through mid-August, and does not include the most recent market turmoil.
The Beige Book did not provide all good news however. China’s struggles, dropping oil prices, and issues in the American manufacturing industry were listed as obstacles facing our economy. Specifically three industries reported slowdowns due to China: wool products in San Francisco, chemicals in Boston, and tech goods in Dallas.
China saw a steady trading day but still ended down after seeing significant drops on Tuesday. The Nikkei lost .39% and The Shanghai Composite lost .2%. Chinese markets will be closed through the weekend for their World War II Victory Day Parade.
Here are the final numbers from Wednesday on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,351.38 (+293.03)
NASDAQ: 4,749.98 (+113.874)
S&P 500: 1,948.86 (+35.01)
