The Receipts // Federal Reserve · April 2026 Beige Book · Small-business cut
What 12 regional economies actually reported.
Twelve Federal Reserve banks. Qualitative commentary from the people who actually run businesses in each district. No spin, no revisions. Coded for the small-business cut, the read across nine of twelve districts was negative. The headline rate hides it.
9 of 12
April 2026 · small-business sentiment
Federal Reserve districts where the small-business read in the April 2026 Beige Book coded negative: cost pressure, margin compression, lower foot traffic, or softer expected demand.
9negative
2neutral
1positive
12 districts · small-business sentiment
Negative
Neutral
Positive
01
Boston
Negative
02
New York
Negative
03
Philadelphia
Neutral
04
Cleveland
Negative
05
Richmond
Neutral
06
Atlanta
Positive
07
Chicago
Negative
08
St. Louis
Negative
09
Minneapolis
Negative
10
Kansas City
Negative
11
Dallas
Negative
12
San Francisco
Negative
| District | Small-business read | Commentary (paraphrased from district report) |
|---|---|---|
| 01 · Boston | Negative | Activity declined slightly; small retailers reported softer foot traffic and price-sensitive customers. |
| 02 · New York | Negative | Activity continued to decline modestly; service-sector activity declined moderately and input prices picked up. |
| 03 · Philadelphia | Neutral | Activity grew slightly, down from a modest pace; employment declined slightly and cost pressures increased. |
| 04 · Cleveland | Negative | Business activity grew modestly overall, but retailers saw modest declines amid higher fuel prices. |
| 05 · Richmond | Neutral | Regional economy continued to grow modestly; small-business pressures not flagged in district summary. |
| 06 · Atlanta | Positive | Most sectors grew slightly; modest expansion led by tourism and services, healthcare hiring brisk. |
| 07 · Chicago | Negative | Small businesses observed lower foot traffic along commercial corridors in immigrant communities. |
| 08 · St. Louis | Negative | Activity unchanged; early-stage credit weakness emerged for small business borrowers tied to input costs. |
| 09 · Minneapolis | Negative | Activity grew slightly; consumer spending and services were flat, freight costs rose with diesel prices. |
| 10 · Kansas City | Negative | Small businesses reported increasing cost pressures and softer expected holiday sales. |
| 11 · Dallas | Negative | Activity rose slightly; service-sector activity was nearly flat, manufacturing growth moderated. |
| 12 · San Francisco | Negative | Activity was somewhat subdued but largely stable; tech-adjacent services demand softened. |
| 12-district summary | 9 negative · 2 neutral · 1 positive | Three quarters of the country's regional economies coded negative on the small-business cut. |
The Beige Book is the early warning system. It runs ahead of the official numbers because it talks to operators, not statisticians. If your business feels tighter, you are not imagining it. Three quarters of the country's regional economies just said it out loud.
Sources. Federal Reserve Board, Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District ("Beige Book"), April 2026 release (published April 15, 2026, covering mid-February through March). National-summary read of overall activity: slight to modest growth in eight districts, little change in two, slight to modest declines in two.
Note. Sentiment shown above is The Receipts coding of the small-business cut within each district report, separate from the overall-activity headline. Coding rule: negative = cost pressure, margin compression, lower foot traffic, weakening demand, or softer expected sales flagged in the district report. Neutral = modest growth language with no clear small-business pressure flag. Positive = small-business commentary explicitly noted growth or expansion. District commentary excerpts are paraphrased; verify against each Reserve Bank district report before publish. Source release: federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202604.htm.
Note. Sentiment shown above is The Receipts coding of the small-business cut within each district report, separate from the overall-activity headline. Coding rule: negative = cost pressure, margin compression, lower foot traffic, weakening demand, or softer expected sales flagged in the district report. Neutral = modest growth language with no clear small-business pressure flag. Positive = small-business commentary explicitly noted growth or expansion. District commentary excerpts are paraphrased; verify against each Reserve Bank district report before publish. Source release: federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202604.htm.
The Receipts byKathryn Finney
Subscribe
The Receipts on LinkedIn→