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Beige Book Reports Optimistic New England Forecast

As the final month of 2010 rushes by, questions about how the economy will perform moving into 2011 are surfacing rapidly. This week, the Fed’s latest “Beige Book” report revealed that the economy of the New England area grew at a “slight to modest pace” between early October and mid-November, and that “the outlook for 2011 is slightly more optimistic” than in past months.

“It’s consistent with what we’ve been seeing,” explained Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economist. “The economy seems to be slowly recovering.” (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/iaqk2y)

Information for the New England area is derived from interviews conducted at businesses across Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and parts of Connecticut. From these interviews, the report concluded that professionals working in manufacturing, software, information technology, and commercial real estate “seem more upbeat” in regards to economic conditions than six to twelve weeks ago and that the region’s travel and tourism industries are very strong. Retailers, however, gave “mixed reports” and are uncertain about holiday sales. Additionally, residential real estate in the region is still “soft.”

“Respondents are generally more optimistic than they were three months ago,” said the report. “With strong order pipelines, most are expecting a continuation or slight acceleration of their current rate of growth.”

Software and information technology businesses reported “year-over-year revenue increases from the mid-single digits to over 20 percent” last quarter. Furthermore, most businesses in the software and information technology industries reported plans to expand their workforces heading into 2011. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/iaeHd6)

Lately, reports regarding the condition of the economy seem to paint the same picture: slow recovery. While not quite the news people are hoping for, a general trend of improvement is far from discouraging. Let's hope Massachusetts can finish out 2010 with a strong December and continue its upward trend into the new year.

[Sources: http://abcn.ws/eEm1cQ, http://bit.ly/hJaXw7, http://bit.ly/eZA01j, http://bit.ly/fpHK7L]

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