Pulse of the Economy

The West Coast economy generally continued to weaken from mid April to the end of May, according to the latest “beige book” survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. No surprise there.  However there are some interesting signs of life in the summary for the 12th Federal Reserve District, the nine-state region that includes Washington state.

According to the survey, the sectors in the 12th District that have the strongest "heartbeats" are:

– Discount retailers. “Consumers continued to favor inexpensive necessities over luxury items and discretionary purchases, resulting in sales gains for large discount retailers in some areas,” the report said.

– Farmers and food producers. “Sales continued at a solid pace for most types of agricultural output, including livestock products and various types of produce,” according to the report. Also: “Food manufacturers saw continued growth in sales with high levels of capacity utilization.”

– Tech manufacturers. The report says: “Conditions improved further for manufacturers of semiconductors and other information technology products, as new orders and sales increased modestly, capacity utilization rose, and inventories were brought into balance.”

– Real estate sales. According to the report: “Elevated rates of home foreclosures, ongoing price declines, and low mortgage interest rates have combined to support a sustained pickup in the pace of home sales in many areas.”

As for the condition of the other economic sectors? Maybe we should wait and see what the next survey says.