The Fed's Beige Book — What It Is, What It Isn't, and How to Read It
The Beige Book summarizes mostly qualitative reports from contacts in the 12 Fed Districts, 8 times a year; the Fed says it is not officials' views. Sept. 2: activity up modestly. Next: Oct. 14.
Key figures (Beige Book, August 2026 edition; released 2 September 2026)
As of 11 October 2026 (KST); latest edition: the Beige Book the Fed titles "Beige Book - August 2026", released September 2, 2026; the next edition is scheduled for October 14, 2026. Primary sources: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202608-summary.htm and https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/publications/beige-book-default.htm[1][4]
| Indicator (national summary) | Previous (July 2026 edition, released July 15) | Current (August 2026 edition, released September 2) | Change vs previous (this page's comparison) | Change vs year ago (August 2025 edition, this page's comparison) | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall economic activity | "Economic activity increased at a slight to moderate pace in eleven of twelve Federal Reserve Districts in late May and June, while one District reported no change." | "Economic activity increased modestly since early July. Ten of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported growth in the slight to moderate range; two Districts reported no change." | Districts reporting growth 11 → 10; Districts reporting no change 1 → 2 | August 2025: "Most of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period—the four Districts that differed reported modest growth." Growth is now reported in 10 Districts rather than 4 | Issuer record (Federal Reserve Beige Book) |
| Employment | "Employment rose on balance, with five Districts showing modest, moderate, or solid gains in employment, and with seven Districts experiencing little to no change." | "Employment rose very slightly overall, with three Districts showing modest gains in employment, four reporting slight gains, and five Districts experiencing no change." | wording 'rose on balance' → 'rose very slightly overall'. July: five Districts with modest, moderate or solid gains and seven with 'little to no change'; August: three with modest gains, four with slight gains and five with 'no change'. The categories differ, so the counts are shown side by side rather than as a like-for-like change | August 2025: "Eleven Districts described little or no net change in overall employment levels, while one District described a modest decline." | Issuer record (Federal Reserve Beige Book) |
| Wages | "Wage growth was modest to moderate in most Districts, though two saw only slight wage increases." | "Wage growth was modest to moderate in most Districts." | same main wording; the July mention of two Districts with only slight increases is not repeated | August 2025: "Half of the Districts described modest growth in wages, while most of the others reported moderate growth." | Issuer record (Federal Reserve Beige Book) |
| Prices | "Prices increased moderately overall, with nine Districts reporting moderate growth, two robust growth, and one slight growth; compared with the last reporting period, price growth was the same or slower in all Districts." | "Prices increased moderately in eight Districts, with two Districts reporting modest increases, one slight increases, and one robust increases." "Compared with the previous reporting period, the pace of price increases was the same in eight Districts, decreased in three, and increased in one." | moderate 9 → 8 Districts; robust 2 → 1; slight 1 → 1; modest none listed → 2 | August 2025: "Ten Districts characterized price growth as moderate or modest." | Issuer record (Federal Reserve Beige Book) |
| Outlook | "Contacts generally expected the economy to continue to expand in the coming months, but several Districts noted elevated uncertainty in the outlook for fuel costs." | "The general outlook for the coming months was positive, but sentiment was mixed across sectors, with contacts reporting heightened uncertainty surrounding the effects of higher energy prices, policy, and international conflict." | both describe expected growth with uncertainty; the stated sources of uncertainty widen from fuel costs to energy prices, policy and international conflict | August 2025: "Overall, sentiment was mixed among the Districts." | Issuer record (Federal Reserve Beige Book) |
| Prepared at; information cutoff | Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; on or before July 6, 2026 | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; on or before August 24, 2026 | rotating preparer changed | August 2025: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; on or before August 25, 2025 | Issuer record (report notes) |
Comparison basis: quotation-marked passages are verbatim excerpts from the national summaries; preparation and cutoff details come from the report notes. Comparisons are this page's own. The Beige Book is qualitative, so no figures are rounded; District counts are taken from the quoted wording. Release dates for 2026 are from the list on the Fed's Beige Book page and for 2025 from the Fed's 2025 Beige Book archive list.[1][2][4][6][7]
In three lines 1. The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System report on economic conditions in the 12 Districts, based on mostly qualitative information from contacts and published 8 times a year. 2. The Fed says it "is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials"; each report summarizes comments from contacts outside the Federal Reserve System. 3. The August 2026 edition (released September 2) says activity "increased modestly since early July"; the next edition is due October 14, 2026.[1][3][4]
What the Beige Book is (in the Fed's words)
"The Beige Book is a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. It characterizes regional economic conditions and prospects based on a variety of mostly qualitative information, gathered directly from each District's sources. Reports are published eight times per year."[3]
Purpose: "The Beige Book is intended to characterize the change in economic conditions since the last report."[3]
Who reports: "Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors, plus interviews and online questionnaires completed by businesses, community organizations, economists, market experts, and other sources." "Contacts are not selected at random; rather, Banks strive to curate a diverse set of sources that can provide accurate and objective information about a broad range of economic activities."[3]
Who writes the summary: "The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector." "An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis." The July 2026 edition was prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the August 2026 edition at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, according to the note at the end of each report.[4]
What it isn't
Not a statement of officials' views. The Fed's description says: "The Beige Book is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials." The note at the end of each report repeats it: "This document summarizes comments received from contacts outside the Federal Reserve System and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials."[1][3]
Not a statistical data release. The Fed describes the content as "mostly qualitative information", and its Beige Book page says "Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District"; this information supplements economic data rather than replacing it: "The information from contacts supplements the data and analysis used by Federal Reserve economists and staff to assess economic conditions in the Federal Reserve Districts."[3][4]
Not a policy decision. Policy decisions are announced in FOMC statements after the Committee's meetings; the Beige Book is a separate publication about economic conditions. Reading a Beige Book as a forecast of the next decision goes beyond what the Fed says it is (this page's reading).[3][5]
How to read an edition
Count the Districts. National summaries describe how many of the 12 Districts reported growth, no change or decline, using words such as slight, modest, moderate and robust. Comparing these counts and words with the previous edition shows the direction of change, which is the report's stated purpose.[1][2]
Check the cutoff and the title. The edition released September 2, 2026 is titled "Beige Book - August 2026" and is based on information collected on or before August 24, 2026; the title month is not the release month.[1]
Read the District highlights. Below the national summary, each of the 12 Reserve Banks gives a short highlight for its District; the national wording summarizes these, so a single District can differ from the national picture.[1][2]
Remember who is speaking. "Contacts are not selected at random; rather, Banks strive to curate a diverse set of sources that can provide accurate and objective information about a broad range of economic activities."[3]
Reading in pairs
Beige Book vs price data. The August 2026 edition says "Prices increased moderately in eight Districts, with two Districts reporting modest increases, one slight increases, and one robust increases." It describes how many Districts saw which pace of increase, not an inflation rate; measured inflation comes from price indexes such as the CPI and PCE price index (see GlowWiki's CPI vs PCE page). This page's reading.[1][3]
Beige Book vs consumer surveys. The same edition notes that "Auto sales were mostly subdued, dampened by downbeat consumer confidence, high fuel prices, and rising financing costs." Survey measures of consumer confidence and sentiment are separate indicators (see GlowWiki's Consumer Confidence vs Consumer Sentiment page).[1]
Beige Book vs the FOMC meeting. The August 2026 edition was released September 2, 2026, 13 days before the September 15–16 FOMC meeting, which was associated with a Summary of Economic Projections (see GlowWiki's FOMC dot plot page). The interval is this page's calculation from the two Fed schedules.[4][5]
This edition vs a year earlier. In the August 2025 edition, "Most of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported little or no change in economic activity since the prior Beige Book period—the four Districts that differed reported modest growth." In August 2026, "Economic activity increased modestly since early July. Ten of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts reported growth in the slight to moderate range; two Districts reported no change."[1][6]
Release schedule
| 2026 Beige Book release | Next FOMC meeting (first day) | Days between (this page's calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| January 14 | January 27-28 | 13 |
| March 4 | March 17-18 | 13 |
| April 15 | April 28-29 | 13 |
| June 3 | June 16-17 | 13 |
| July 15 | July 28-29 | 13 |
| September 2 | September 15-16 | 13 |
| October 14 (scheduled) | October 27-28 | 13 |
| November 25 (scheduled) | December 8-9 | 13 |
The Fed publishes the Beige Book eight times per year, and "The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings during the year and other meetings as needed." The Fed's Beige Book pages cited here do not state a fixed lead time before meetings; the 13-day interval in every 2026 pairing is this page's calculation.[3][5]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
The Federal Reserve describes the Beige Book as a Federal Reserve System publication about current economic conditions across the 12 Federal Reserve Districts, based on mostly qualitative information and published eight times per year.[3] 1 source · authoritative record
Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers information through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews and online questionnaires completed by businesses, community organizations, economists, market experts and other sources; contacts are not selected at random.[3] 1 source · authoritative record
An overall summary of the twelve District reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis.[4] 1 source · authoritative record
The Federal Reserve states that the Beige Book is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials; each report summarizes comments received from contacts outside the Federal Reserve System.[1][3] 1 source · authoritative record
The August 2026 Beige Book, released September 2, 2026 and prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from information collected on or before August 24, 2026, reported that economic activity increased modestly, with ten of the twelve Districts reporting growth in the slight to moderate range and two no change.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The July 2026 Beige Book, released July 15, 2026 and prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from information collected on or before July 6, 2026, reported growth at a slight to moderate pace in eleven of twelve Districts, with one reporting no change.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
The Fed's 2026 Beige Book schedule lists January 14, March 4, April 15, June 3, July 15, September 2, October 14 and November 25.[4] 1 source · authoritative record
The FOMC's 2026 meetings are scheduled for January 27-28, March 17-18, April 28-29, June 16-17, July 28-29, September 15-16, October 27-28 and December 8-9.[5] 1 source · authoritative record
The August 2025 Beige Book, released September 3, 2025 and prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, reported that most of the twelve Districts saw little or no change in economic activity, while four reported modest growth.[6][7] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
Each 2026 Beige Book release date falls 13 days before the first day of the following FOMC meeting.[4][5] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from the Fed's 2026 Beige Book and FOMC schedules
Between the July and August 2026 editions, the number of Districts reporting growth fell from 11 to 10, employment wording changed from 'rose on balance' to 'rose very slightly overall', and the number of Districts with moderate price increases fell from 9 to 8.[1][2] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's comparison of the July and August 2026 national summaries
Because the Fed says the Beige Book is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials, it should not be read as a statement of FOMC policy intentions.[3] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's reading of the Fed's description
Timeline
- 2025-09-03
August 2025 Beige Book released (prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia).[6][7]
- 2026-07-15
July 2026 Beige Book released (prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago).[2]
- 2026-07-28
FOMC meeting, July 28-29.[5]
- 2026-09-02
August 2026 Beige Book released (prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis).[1]
- 2026-09-15
FOMC meeting, September 15-16.[5]
- 2026-10-14
Next Beige Book scheduled.[4]
- 2026-10-27
FOMC meeting scheduled, October 27-28.[5]
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 10/11/2026, 13:30
- Body characters
- 11,004
- Sources
- 7 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 10/11/2026, 15:00
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 10/11/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 10/11/2026 | First version. Read in full the Beige Book national summaries for July 2026, August 2026 and August 2025, the August 2026 About This Publication page, the Beige Book page with the 2026 schedule and the FOMC meeting calendar; quotations and figures matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 10/11/2026 | Revised after review: the data point now reads 'not a statistical data release' and describes the content as mostly qualitative and anecdotal information that supplements data; the employment row shows July's and August's District categories side by side instead of a like-for-like change; release dates are attributed to the Fed's 2026 Beige Book list and 2025 archive list; the table note now distinguishes verbatim excerpts from report-note details. | Updated |
Frequently asked
Is the Beige Book a signal of what the Fed will do?
Not by the Fed's description: the 12 Reserve Banks summarize comments from contacts outside the Federal Reserve System, and the Fed says "The Beige Book is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials." Policy decisions are set out in FOMC statements.[1][3]
When is the next Beige Book released?
October 14, 2026, according to the Fed's 2026 schedule; the edition after that is scheduled for November 25, 2026.[4]
What did the latest Beige Book say?
10 of 12 Districts reported growth in the slight to moderate range in the August 2026 edition, released September 2; employment "rose very slightly overall" and prices increased moderately in eight Districts.[1]
How often is the Beige Book published, and how close to FOMC meetings?
8 times a year, per the Fed. In 2026 each release falls 13 days before the first day of an FOMC meeting (this page's calculation from the two schedules); the Fed's Beige Book pages cited here do not state a fixed lead time.[3][4][5]
Is the Beige Book economic data?
Mostly qualitative information from the 12 Districts' contacts, by the Fed's description. "The information from contacts supplements the data and analysis used by Federal Reserve economists and staff to assess economic conditions in the Federal Reserve Districts."[3]
Who writes the Beige Book?
12 Reserve Banks each gather information in their District, and the overall summary is prepared by a designated Reserve Bank on a rotating basis: Chicago for the July 2026 edition and Minneapolis for the August 2026 edition.[1][2][3][4]
Who are the Beige Book's sources?
12 Reserve Banks draw on Bank and Branch directors plus interviews and online questionnaires completed by businesses, community organizations, economists, market experts and other sources; the Fed says contacts are not selected at random.[3]
Why was the September 2 report called the August 2026 Beige Book?
September 2, 2026 was the release date of the edition the Fed titles "Beige Book - August 2026"; its information was collected on or before August 24, 2026.[1]
Official links
Sources
- [1] Beige Book — August 2026, National Summary (released September 2, 2026) primary
- [2] Beige Book — July 2026, National Summary (released July 15, 2026) primary
- [3] Beige Book — August 2026: About This Publication primary
- [4] Beige Book: Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District (2026 schedule) primary
- [5] Meeting calendars, statements, and minutes (2021-2027) primary
- [6] Beige Book — August 2025, National Summary (released September 3, 2025) primary
- [7] Beige Book 2025 (archive list of releases) primary