Economic activity in the United States has remained almost unchanged in recent weeks, and employment has been stable although more and more businesses report staff reductions, according to a report by the US Federal Bank.

In the so -called “beige book” – the brief qualitative reference of the Fed 12 regional banks – it is noted that “in most regions, more businesses have reported reduction of staff through redundancies or physical retirement, citing weaker demand, increased economic uncertainty and, in some cases, increased intelligence”.

At the same time, it is noted that the work supply remains limited in sectors such as hospitality, agriculture, construction and manufacturing due to recent changes in US immigration policy.

“Beige Book”, published two weeks before each Fed Monetary Policy meeting, provides a more direct and “human” image of the economy compared to official statistics. With the delay in publishing government data due to Shutdown, the report is gaining more emphasis on the formation of monetary policy this time.

Fed President Jerome Powell said the prospect of inflation and the labor market has not changed significantly from the latest interest rates by 0.25 points, although economic growth was slightly stronger than expected.

Although markets are betting on a new interest rate reduction at the Fed meeting on October 28-29, officials appear divided and closely monitoring their contacts with entrepreneurs and local agencies.

“Stories are turned into data,” commented St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem. “Sometimes you hear the same narrative for months, but suddenly a new one appears, and there you see the turning points – first in the discussions and then in the data.”

The new Fed report gathers information from business and social contacts of 12 regional banks by October 6 and published today that the inflation report was to be announced – which will be delayed due to Shutdown until October 24.

The Fed also reports that increased duties have contributed to rising input costs for many businesses, although the part of the cost of the final prices were significantly different, with the word “duty” being recorded 64 times in the notion, compared to 100 in its previous August.

At the same time, he stresses that the indications are increasing that the tightening of immigration policy limits the tank of available workers. “Some businesses in the fields of construction and manufacturing have reported difficulty finding workers for unskilled workers, which attributes to a reduction in immigration,” notes San Francisco’s Fed.

In South Carolina, a construction company said that increased real estate prices have reduced demand, which, he says, would lead to forthcoming redundancies, according to Richmond’s Fed.