WASHINGTON, DC—The Federal Reserve Bank has released its seventh and next-to-last Beige Book for 2015, chronicling the economic developments in the Fed's 12 Districts since the last report some six week ago.

Surprisingly, given the rollercoaster ride the stock market and global economy has been on, the report shows modest economic growth overall. As for commercial real estate, the prognosis is downright enthusiastic (for the Fed).

Of course some sectors such as manufacturing have shown some decline, which might seem puzzling to the CRE industry given the strength of industrial's fundamentals right now.

The real head-scratcher, though, is the Beige Book's depiction of the US labor market. It is equal parts a story of a work force that is growing tighter but also one in which wage growth remains subdued. For real estate construction that could mean trouble finding enough labor, especially in the skilled crafts. (Indeed in the report, Dallas reported that residential and commercial construction activity had been hampered by labor shortages.) For all the Fed watchers and second-guessers, these conflicting trends mean the giant question mark over when the Fed will raise interest rates shall remain in place.

Stronger Commercial Residential Market

There was little ambiguity, though, about commercial and residential real estate, barring a few region-specific developments such as in the energy markets.

"Both residential rental markets and commercial real estate markets were mostly stronger," the Beige Book said. "Commercial and residential multifamily construction showed further strength; single-family construction activity was more mixed but did increase modestly."

Multifamily construction did well, with strong activity highlighted in the New York, Cleveland, Richmond, and San Francisco Districts.

However all of the asset classes did well in all of the Districts, save one or two exceptions such as slack in the market for retail space in New York and St. Louis.

Boston and St. Louis noted "brisk construction" in the health sector, including senior care facilities, and Cleveland also indicated strong demand for senior living structures.

Tightening Labor

The labor markets also tightened since the previous report. The New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Dallas Districts indicated that employment was up modestly to moderately. The money quote, arguably, from the report was that:

Many Districts continued to report that employers were having difficulty finding skilled workers, and, in some cases, unskilled workers. Scattered labor shortages were reported in construction (Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco), trucking (New York, St. Louis, Kansas City), and information technology (New York, Kansas City, San Francisco).

There were signs of slack. The Philadelphia District saw relatively more part time and temporary positions created compared to full-time positions, and Dallas reported that layoffs in the energy industry were still underway.

Still, wage growth "remained subdued" in most Districts since the previous report, the Beige Book said, with the Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Dallas Districts reporting only slight to modest wage increases.

Significant wage increases were reported but they were largely among highly skilled workers in information technology, health care, professional services, and some of the skilled trades.

Another money shot quote though points to the incremental effects the minimum wage increases seen in many cities are starting to have on the larger economy.

"....New York noted increased wage pressure for both skilled and less skilled workers, and San Francisco noted that the impact of higher minimum wages implemented over the past year began to filter through to the retail sector and resulted in increased wages for some lower-skilled workers.