Businesses optimistic as US economy grows slightly in recent weeks

Stickier inflation: Hiring signages displayed at a job and resource fair in Hendersonville, North Carolina. With the labour market still strong but gradually cooling, Fed officials are wary of leaving the policy rate too far above 3.5% for too long. — Bloomberg

WASHINGTON: US economic activity has expanded slightly in most regions since early October, with employment growth “subdued” and inflation rising at a modest pace and businesses expressing optimism about the future, the Federal Reserve (Fed) says in a summary of surveys and interviews from across the country known collectively as the “Beige Book.”

“Though growth in economic activity was generally small, expectations for growth rose moderately across most geographies and sectors,” the US central bank said in its regular temperature check on the economy, drawing on observations from the business and community contacts of each of its 12 regional banks through Nov 22.