U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book: New York District (Text)

The following is the text of the Federal Reserve Board’s Second District-- New York.

SECOND DISTRICT--NEW YORK Economic activity in the Second District has weakened since the last report, largely reflecting widespread disruptions from Sandy. Prices of finished goods and services have generally been stable. The labor market is difficult to gauge at this point-- while hiring activity tapered off noticeably due to the storm, relatively few business contacts indicate that they plan to reduce headcounts in the months ahead. Retailers report fairly strong sales for October but indicate that business in the last two weeks has been severely hampered by storm disruptions; auto dealers in upstate New York report some softening in auto sales in October. Tourism activity in New York City was fairly strong prior to the storm; hotel business tapered off only modestly in early November, as the adverse effects of travel cancellations were partly offset by increased demand from local residents without power or access to their homes. Residential real estate markets were generally firm through the latter part of October, though the storm has caused a substantial slowing in sales activity in and around New York City. Finally, bankers report some weakening in loan demand and increased delinquency rates in the consumer and commercial & industrial loan segments; for residential and commercial mortgages, both loan demand and delinquency rates are little changed.