U.S. economy improving, federal reserve suggests

The economy in most U.S. regionsis improving but employment prospects aren't, said the U.S. Federal Reserve Board Wednesday.

Economic activity "continued to stabilize" in August in many parts of the United States, according to the so-called beige book, which the U.S. central bank publishes eight times a years.

The report, which summarizes industrial and labour markets in the 12 districts that constitute the federal reserve system, reinforced the belief among many analysts that the U.S. economic slide appears to have halted.

"Most districts noted that the outlook for economic activity among their business contacts remained cautiously positive," said the well-watched Federal Reserve publication.

In many areas, improvements in the real estate sector and manufacturing underscored the slowing of the economic decline, the report noted.

In addition, Washington's program that subsidizes the trade-in of old cars helpedspur auto activity in 10 out of the 12 districts covered, the beige book said.

Cleveland and Kansas City reported, however, that the program hurt used cars sales in those two areas.

Better signs

The mild hopefulness of these reports coincides with an improved picture painted by other economic indicators.

In August, for example, the U.S. Institute for Supply Management's survey of itsmanufacturing members topped the 50 per cent level the point at which the sector starts to expand for the first time in 18 months.

No jobs

Despite the signs of the U.S. economy reaching bottom, however, the Federal Reserve's beige book did not hold out much optimism for any improvement for American workers.

"Labour market conditions remained weak across all districts," the report said.

The U.S. unemployment rate has soared in the past year, reaching 9.7 per cent in August. That represented a 60 per cent riseover a year ago.