FED'S BEIGE reports the U.S. labor market broadly expanded. Of 12 Fed districts,
five saw job gains (ranging from mild to moderate-to-meaningful), seven were
essentially unchanged; only one district showed an improvement versus the prior
report. Employment gains were concentrated in manufacturing, construction and
retail, while technicians and skilled trades remain hard to hire; a few
districts reported limited job declines. Wages largely rose modestly to
moderately, with some pay increases driven by competition for skilled labor.
Several districts noted firms are increasingly using AI for candidate screening
or to raise employee productivity.
