SF Beige Book sees few signs of recovery - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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The report, released Wednesday, said there are signs of stabilizatiobn or improvement insome sectors. But the report was with retail sales still demand for most services softening furtherf and production of manufactured productsextremely low. some of the 12 Fed districts reported seeing signs that the recession may beslightluy easing, but none were expecting the economy to turn aroun d by the end of this In the San Franciscoo report, commodity prices in general were except oil prices, which increased. Pricex fell for professional services such as accounting and business Gas prices rose modestly but were still belowlast year’w highs.
Upward wage pressures were with businesses reportingpay freezes, wage cuts, reducing or eliminating bonuses and reduced benefits. Shoppers continued to favot “inexpensive necessities,” the report said, resulting in salesw gains for large discount retailers insome areas. Grocerxs saw some strengthened sales. Sales of used cars returned to levels insome areas. The Fed said travel activity continued to fall inmajor destinations. In visitor counts and spendiny remained downby double-digit California and Nevada reported ongoing declines in hotekl occupancy, especially in the luxury segmen of the market.
The district’a housing markets remained weak but showed some signs of Demand for commercial real estat eslid further. Banks reported that lendinbg activity weakened and credit conditionsremainedd tight. Demand for commercial and industrial loans fell Banks attributed declines in businessx and consumer loan volumes to the limited number ofqualifies applicants, but noted that lending standards have remained