Beige Book Podcasts Available in Spanish Beginning Sept. 7

ST. LOUIS—The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will provide Spanish versions of its podcasts summarizing the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, beginning with the release of the Sept. 7 report.  Produced in MP3 format, these podcasts will be available on the Bank’s web site shortly after 1 p.m. CT/2pm ET on each release date.  To access the podcasts, go to www.stlouisfed.org/newsroom/multimedia/audio/beige/index.cfm

The Spanish-language podcasts will feature St. Louis Fed senior economist Rubén Hernández-Murillo.  In his summaries of the overall economic conditions in the Eighth Federal Reserve District and the rest of the nation, he will provide information about:

• overall economic conditions;
• consumer spending;
• manufacturing;
• automotive sales;
• residential and commercial real estate; and
• banking.

These podcasts are part of the St. Louis Fed’s continuing efforts to provide timely and relevant economic information and analysis to communities across the District and the country.  The Bank has provided similar podcasts in English since July 2007.

The Beige Book in its entirety can be accessed online at www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beigebook/2011/

Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector.  An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis.