Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key businessmen, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. For more Information , consult The Federal Reserve Board's website. Business Inventories Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales reports contain preliminary figures for the current month and final figures for the previous month. Data are both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted.
Economists look to construction spending for clues about the overall economy.
The construction industry is one of the first to go into a recession when the economy declines and, likewise, the first to recover as conditions improve. The CPI provides a way for consumers to compare what the market basket of goods and services costs this month with what the same market basket cost a month or a year ago. The primary statistics derived from the survey are monthly estimates of employment, hours, and earnings for the Nation, States, and major metropolitan areas. The CPS is the source of statistics on the activities of the labor force, including unemployment and the Nation's unemployment rate. Employment Factory Orders Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments and Orders press releases include seasonally and not seasonally adjusted estimates of shipments, new orders and unfilled orders for durable goods industries.