Beige Book
Summary of anecdotal reports on economic conditions across the twelve Federal Reserve districts.
- Frequency
- 8 times a year
- Usual time
- 2:00 PM ET
- Importance
- Low importance
- Official schedule
- Publisher schedule page
Upcoming Beige Book dates 1 scheduled
| Date | Day | Time (ET) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed | 2:00 PM | Confirmed date: Read directly from the publisher's official release schedule. |
Later dates not yet published. Beige Book dates after have not been released yet by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. They will be added once the publisher posts them.
Source note: Years covered: 2026. 2027: Beige Book dates not yet published on federalreserve.gov (beige-book-default) or federalreserve.gov (calendar); omitted. See the methodology.
Past Beige Book dates
What the Beige Book is
The Beige Book is the Federal Reserve’s regular summary of economic conditions as described by people on the ground. Its formal title is the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District; the nickname comes from the colour of its cover in earlier years.
Unlike most of the reports on this site, the Beige Book contains no new statistics. It is a collection of anecdotes and qualitative judgements: what business owners, bankers, economists and community contacts are seeing in their part of the country. Its value is in texture and timeliness rather than precision.
Who publishes it and when
The Federal Reserve Board publishes the Beige Book eight times a year at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Each edition comes out roughly two weeks before a scheduled meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), so it gives policymakers and the public a fresh read on conditions heading into each decision. Current and past editions are on the Fed’s Beige Book page.
How it is put together
The Federal Reserve System has twelve regional Reserve Banks, each covering a district. For every edition, each Reserve Bank gathers information from its own network: reports from its directors and those of its branches, and interviews and surveys with business contacts, economists, market experts and others in the district.
The result is twelve district reports, each organised by topic. A designated Reserve Bank, chosen on a rotating basis, writes the national summary that sits at the front and pulls the district reports together.
Typical topics include:
- overall economic activity;
- labor markets, including employment and wages;
- prices, including input costs and the ability to pass them on;
- consumer spending, manufacturing, real estate and construction;
- banking and finance, agriculture, energy and other sectors important to particular districts.
How to read it
Because the Beige Book is qualitative, the language carries the signal. Readers look for:
- Changes in the overall description of activity from one edition to the next, such as a shift from “slight growth” to “little or no change” across the districts.
- How many districts report growth versus decline, which gives a rough sense of breadth.
- Comments on wages and prices, especially whether firms report being able to raise prices or are seeing resistance from customers.
- Recurring themes, such as hiring difficulties, layoffs, credit conditions or uncertainty about policy, that appear across many districts.
The anecdotes have limits. Contacts are not a statistical sample, and their views can reflect the concerns of the moment. Many economists treat the Beige Book as a useful complement to hard data and a way to understand why the data are moving, not as a forecast.
How markets commonly react
The Beige Book is generally a low-impact event for markets. It arrives in the afternoon, contains no headline number, and usually confirms what the official data have already shown. A noticeable reaction is more likely when the tone shifts sharply, for example when many districts describe a slowdown at a time when markets expect strong growth, or when price comments diverge from what the inflation data suggest. Even then, moves tend to be modest, and they are not dependable.
Its greater significance is indirect. FOMC participants see the district reports, and Reserve Bank presidents sometimes cite their own district’s contacts in speeches. When the Beige Book’s description aligns with a change in Fed thinking, it can help explain the next policy statement.
Common misreadings
- Treating it as a Fed policy document. The Beige Book describes conditions; it does not state policy intentions or speak for the FOMC.
- Reading individual anecdotes as trends. A single contact’s experience is not representative.
- Expecting precision. Terms like “modest” and “slight” are judgements, not measurements, and are not perfectly consistent across districts or editions.
For the policy decisions that follow, see the FOMC rate decision and FOMC minutes explainers.
Frequently asked questions
How often is the Beige Book released?
Eight times a year, roughly two weeks before each scheduled FOMC meeting, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
Why is it called the Beige Book?
It is a nickname that comes from the colour of the report’s cover. The formal title is the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District.
Who writes the Beige Book?
Each of the twelve Reserve Banks writes a report on its own district, and one Reserve Bank, chosen on a rotating basis, writes the national summary.
Does the Beige Book move markets?
Usually only a little. It contains no new statistics and tends to confirm existing data, though a marked change in tone can draw attention.
Explainer updated .
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