from the Chicago Fed
The Beige Book can be a useful tool for understanding current and future economic activity, especially at the regional level. It can be shown, it can and often does provide timely and unique contexts for understanding trends in national and regional economic activity.
[click on image below to read the entire study]
Source: http://www.chicagofed.org/digital_assets/publications/chicago_fed_letter/2014/cflnovember2014_328.pdf