Kansas City

Fed Sees Pace of Economic Contraction Decline 

Several Federal Reserve Bank districts saw signs of economic stabilization as the pace of deterioration began to ease in five of the 12 — or more than 40% of all — districts, the Fed said Thursday in the Beige Book, a regular publication released eight times annually. Reports from the various districts also traced some stabilization in the housing markets with “better-than-expected” sales in some areas offsetting the falling home prices and construction reported widely.