US economy picked up in September

The US economy picked up in September despite weak momentum in consumer spending, a Federal Reserve survey of regional economies published Wednesday showed. In its Beige Book report, used for policy decisions, the Fed said that economic activity "generally expanded modestly" since the last report six weeks earlier, when it characterized growth as only gradual. The embattled housing market continued to improve, home construction was rising, manufacturing was mixed but heading in the right direction, and activity in the energy sector "remained robust." On the downside, the ailing labor market was little changed. "Stagnant demand and uncertainty related to the upcoming presidential election, US fiscal policy, and European debt issues" were restraining hiring, according to some of the businesses polled for the survey. Inflation pressures were modest, with most districts reporting "little change" in prices of finished goods and inputs. The latest report gives Fed policymakers a snapshot of the world's biggest economy ahead of the October 23-24 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. In its September 12-13 meeting, the FOMC decided to launch a $40 billion a month bond-buying program to help lower long-term interest rates and prop up the flagging economy. The third round of quantitative easing, known as QE3, unlike the prior rounds, has no set date for winding down, giving the Fed unlimited leeway to provide stimulus. The US economy grew only 1.3 percent in the second quarter, continuing a sharp slowdown from the tail end of 2011. The latest Beige Book showed an increasing number of the central bank's 12 districts found growth "continued at a modest pace." There were only two outliers: the New York district reported growth was "leveling off" and the Kansas City region indicated "some slowing." Still, consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of US economic activity, cast a cloud over the somewhat improved economic conditions last month. "Consumer spending was generally reported to be flat to up slightly," compared with stronger growth in the prior period, the Fed said. Although growth last month marked an improvement over August, it was still short of the economy's "moderate" bill of health in June, said Sal Guatieri at BMO Capital Markets. "Signs of slowing or mixed growth were less evident than in the previous report," said Eduardo Martinez at Moody's Analytics.