FED BEIGE BOOK OUT

Beige Book prepared for Sep 20 FOMC says "economy activity continued to expand" but "5 districts indicated deceleration while the remaining 7 reported little change in the pace."

The slower areas were in the NE and KC and Dallas, and reasons are slow housing and motor vehicles sales. Labor mkts were steady and inflation centered in energy but this "do(es) not appear to have passed thru to finished consumer goods."

Services were mixed, mfg expanding, and inventories at favorable levels. Hsg and home construction weakened, but commercial real estate tightened. Bank lending slowed. Drought depressed farming. Book was prepared at FRBNY based on info gatherer before Aug 28 (employment report was released Sep 1 and prob did not impact the assessment.)