http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/id ... 9420080416WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic conditions are weakening across much of the United States at the same time that food, fuel and raw material prices are increasing, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.
In a decidedly downbeat Beige Book summary of regional economic conditions, the Fed said manufacturers reported widespread increases in raw material prices and planned to raise selling prices to recover those costs.
"In particular, price increases were consistently reported for food products, fuel and energy products, and many raw materials," the Fed -- the U.S. central bank -- said.
"More specifically, increases in the price of chemicals, metals, plastics and other petroleum-based products were commonly cited."
In a further sign that inflation pressures could be building, the Fed said that despite generally weaker labor markets, there were some reports of wage pressures and continuing shortages of skilled workers.
But analysts generally viewed the report as furthering the case for another Fed interest rate cut on April 30. The Beige Book will feed into analysis and debate by Fed policy makers.
My comment here: If the Fed does continue cutting rates, as the analysts cited say, look for the dollar to get hammered further down and oil prices to keep heading up, furthering inflation. Just my two cents. On to article dos:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/id ... 7320080417ALAMEDA, California (Reuters) - Two top Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday described the U.S. economy as extremely weak -- whether or not it is technically in recession -- but also said inflation was a concern.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen said economic prospects are "unusually uncertain," with growth "at best" at a crawl.
"The economy has all but stalled and could even contract over the first half of the year," Yellen said in a speech to the Bay Area Council's economic outlook conference.
"I'm not ruling out a recession," she told reporters later. The ultimate designation of a recession -- two straight quarters of negative growth -- is mostly a technicality, Yellen said.
Across the country, Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, said the economy "feels pretty bad," regardless of whether a recession is declared.
Growth prospects are weak, and the slowdown will have consequences for everything from jobs to production, Plosser told reporters after a speech in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia.
Not a pretty picture.
