Skilled workers are becoming harder to find, Beige Book says
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Employers in nearly all of the dozen Federal Reserve districts reported difficulties finding skilled workers, according to the latest Beige Book report on economic conditions released by the U.S. central bank on Wednesday.
There were shortages of skilled information technology workers in Boston, truck drivers in New York and construction workers in Atlanta.
While overall, the Fed districts reported little change in wages, there was stronger wage pressure for specific categories, the report said.
The Beige Book-designed to give the US central bank a feel for conditions on the ground-is a collection of anecdotes from business contacts in the 12 Fed districts.
Stocks were little changed after the report was released. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23 points to 17,090.
Jennifer Lee, economist at BMO Capital Markets, said the sense of optimism rose 'a tad' from the prior report in early July.
More districts reported growth as 'moderate' and fewer said it was 'modest,' she noted.
Here are the highlights from the Beige book report:
Overall, the economy continued on a moderate clip. 'None of the districts pointed to a distinct shift in the overall pace of growth,' the report indicated. New construction and existing home sales generally grew modestly and market conditions varied widely, with less than half the districts reporting growing real estate activity. Labor market conditions continued to improve. Wage and price pressures were little changed. Nearly all districts reported difficulty finding certain types of skilled labor. Auto sales are at their highest levels, with banks car lenders benefiting from the boom in sales. SUVs and pickup trucks sales. which one district attributed to a stronger construction industry and another a decline in fuel prices. Tourism remained another strong sector. See word cloud of Beige Book.
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