The Beige Book, the economic book for the feds

The beige book, the Federal Reserve's beige book. Show that as of Wednesday, Dec, 2, 2008, that the overall economic activity has weakened across all Federal Reserve Districts. (Big shock there! Not!!)

The book is compilation of anecdotal evidence of economic conditions in each of the twelve Federal Reserve districts. It noted consumer spending is weak, within each districts generally report, showing a decrease in sales.

The report shows that the bargain and discount stores are showing an increase in spending, while the once more popular department stores are slowing down. This coupled with the constriction in the service industry from the last report are not surprising to anyone and very much expected.