The latest Brown Book points out that since the end of February, the US economy has shown a slight expansion, but companies are facing the problem of cost shifting, resulting in pressure on profit margins.

Overall, consumer spending has hardly increased, but reports vary across different regions and expenditure items. Some reports mention that consumers are highly sensitive to prices, and businesses have weakened their ability to pass on costs to consumers, thereby lowering profit margins.

Despite the astonishing resilience of employment and consumer spending, inflation remains high, which has delayed market expectations for the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said it may take longer to have enough confidence in a decline in inflation before considering a rate cut.

The brown book points out that the overall price increase is not significant. Although the cost of raw materials varies, energy prices are leading the rise. Enterprises find it difficult to pass on these costs to consumers, thereby lowering profit margins.

In terms of the job market, the supply of labor has increased, the ability of enterprises to retain employees has improved, and the upward pressure of wages on inflation has eased. The annual wage growth rate has returned to historical average levels.