Highlights of the Beige Book released April 15, 2015:
- Demand for manufactured goods mixed
- Strong dollar, falling oil and harsh winter weather a factor
- Oil and gas investment has declined
- Labor market remained stable or continued to improve modestly; difficulty finding skilled workers frequently reported
- Districts noted modest upward pressure on wages and overall prices
- Some slowing in housing due to harsh winter weather
- Data collected before April 3 by Cleveland Fed
- Full text of the Beige Book
"Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicate that the economy continued to expand across most regions from mid-February through the end of March. Activity in the Richmond, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts grew at a moderate pace, while New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis cited modest growth. Boston reported that business activity continues to expand, while Cleveland cited a slight pace of growth. Atlanta and Kansas City described economic conditions as steady."
Not too much for the dollar to go on here. More an affirmation of the status quo. If anything, I would have expected a bit more optimism.
I looked through the text for talk about the jobs market and there are lots of references to 'mixed' or 'slight improvement' and lots of talk about the West coast port dispute. On wage pressure, there isn't much but talk of wage pressures is mostly limited to minimum wage hikes in response to Wal-Mart or skilled workers.
The US dollar bounced a bit ahead of the data, perhaps on speculation it would be upbeat, but it's fairly somber. Certainly nothing to indicate the Fed wants to pull the trigger on hikes.