Fed survey

And all districts reported that “manufacturing activity expanded.”

The report was released the same day revised Commerce Department data showed the US economy growing at 3.3 percent in the third quarter, its fastest clip since 2014.

Still, the wage increases reported in the survey were described as “modest or moderate.”

remained low in recent months, staying well below the Fed’s two-percent target, which has prompted the

wages had failed to respond to “widespread” labor scarcity, as employers across the country were re

Hurricane impact

The latest survey showed the cost of construction materials such as lumber was driven higher in part due to continuing efforts to rebuild in southeast Texas after Hurricane Harvey hit in August.

There also were reports of rising prices for transportation, real estate, manufacturing inputs and energy, according to the report.

“In many cases, these increases in transportation and manufacturing were passed through to consumers,” it said.

In the storm-hit Dallas region, conditions had mostly returned to normal but labor shortages persisted and “there were widespread reports of increased wages,” the report said, something echoed in other districts.

In the Saint Louis district, for example, “most firms reported raising starting wages and salaries

for holiday sales was generally California temporarily weighed on shipping volumes.