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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 28, 2002

Fed Report Says US Economy Growing Slowly

The US economy is growing slowly but business conditions are patchy and the jobs market is soft, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) said in a report Wednesday.


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The US economy is growing slowly but business conditions are patchy and the jobs market is soft, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) said in a report Wednesday.

"Economic activity grew slowly, on balance, in late October andearly November," said the report known as the "Beige Book" for thecolor of its cover.

It said that buying activity continued into mid-November with six of the Fed's regional bank districts reporting improvement in general merchandise sales despite the fact that auto sales were down across the country.

"Service industry activity was generally sluggish," the report said. Manufacturing remained soft in most districts and business investment was limited.

"Most Reserve banks reported nearly steady prices at both the consumer and producer levels, with the exception of shipping charges, which have risen in the wake of the West Coast port disruptions."

The report will be used by Fed policy-makers when they meet on Dec. 10 to consider whether to cut interest rates again to spur the US economy.

With a string of stronger-than-expected economic reports, many economists believe the US Fed will leave its target for overnight bank lending unchanged at a 41-year low of 1.25 percent.

The Fed cut the federal funds rate by a half percentage point at its last meeting on Nov. 6.


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