Views on US economy 'more pessimistic' as uncertainty grows: Fed

Washington: Outlooks on the US economy have become gloomier with reports of rising uncertainty and worries over risks, even though growth broadly cont...

Washington: Outlooks on the US economy have become gloomier with reports of rising uncertainty and worries over risks, even though growth broadly continued recently, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

The views come as discretionary spending cooled and consumers became more sensitive to costs in recent weeks, while job gains were largely modest to negligible, the US central bank said in its "Beige Book" survey of economic conditions.

Across the United States, economic activity remained positive from early April to mid-May. But conditions varied across industries and districts, the report said.

After rapidly hiking interest rates in 2022, the Fed has in recent months held them at a high level in hopes of stamping out stubborn inflation by lowering demand.

But at policymakers' most recent meeting in May, they cited a lack of further progress towards a two percent inflation target in keeping the benchmark lending rate unchanged.