Listen to St. Louis Fed Economist Discuss the March Beige Book

ST. LOUIS—The St. Louis Fed has released audio highlights of the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book, released on March 4, 2015. The sound clips summarize economic conditions for the United States as a whole, as well as for the Fed's Eighth District, based in St. Louis. 

The audio is produced in MP3 format and is available for download at https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/beige-book/march-4-2015.

The voice on the clip is that of St. Louis Fed senior economist Rubén Hernández-Murillo, who discusses the District’s status regarding:

• overall economic conditions;
• consumer spending;
• manufacturing;
• agriculture;
• residential and commercial real estate; and
• banking.

The full edition of the Beige Book can be accessed at www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook/default.htm.

Formally known as the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District, the Beige Book is published eight times per year, in advance of each regularly scheduled meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Each Federal Reserve bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its district through reports from bank and branch directors, as well as through interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources.  The Beige Book summarizes this information by district and sector.  An overall summary of the 12 district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve bank on a rotating basis.