Fed Beige Book, October 2026: National Summary
Published · Updated
The Beige Book the Board posted on this date, with the opening of its national summary copied as the Board wrote it and the Board’s PDF as the primary document.
The Beige Book gathers anecdotal reports on economic conditions from the twelve Reserve Banks. This report prints the opening of the national summary of this book as the Board wrote it. It does not turn those sentences into a forecast.
The Board of Governors posted this Beige Book on Oct 14, 2026. The primary document is the Board’s file: Board PDF · Board HTML. The October 2026 Beige Book page carries an unaltered copy of the PDF.
Since the prior Beige Book, two of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported moderate growth in economic activity. Three Districts reported modest growth, while four reported slight growth, and three reported no significant change. Robust, broad-based growth in manufacturing led the moderate growth reported in the Dallas District. While not as robust, another six Districts reported modest to moderate growth from their manufacturing firms. The remaining five Districts noted little or no manufacturing growth. Reports on other sectors indicate little growth overall. Most Districts reported little or no change in overall consumer spending. Auto contacts noted flat to modestly lower sales in five of the six Districts that reported. Over half of the Districts noted that consumer spending was driven by high-income households. Even in Dallas, where District firms reported solid retail sales, there were "some reports of lower-income customers being more cautious with spending." Tourism continued to grow, but firms in the Boston, Minneapolis, and San Francisco Districts noted a decline in sales from Canadian tourists. Overall, most Districts reported that firms have maintained a positive economic outlook for the coming months. However, expectations tend to be for slight growth, weighted toward manufacturing and burdened by persistent uncertainties.
Copied from the Board’s national summary, Overall Economic Activity, Oct 14, 2026. Board PDF · Board HTML. Not paraphrased.