Do you feel the economic expansion, KC?

The region’s economy “expanded slightly” last month and early this month, said a report today from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Much of the nation’s economy saw “either stabilization or modest improvements” in many economic sectors, according to the accompanying Beige Book that summarizes 12 such regional reports ahead of the Federal Reserve’s regular policy meetings.

The Fed’s policy committee, including Kansas City Fed President Tom Hoenig, next meet Nov. 3 and 4 in Washington. The group is not expected to raise interest rates.

The beige book provides the latest anecdotal economic assessment, generally based on Fed officials’ contacts in business, labor and elsewhere, to supplement the economic data that often lags behind because of reporting delays.

Kansas City’s regional contribution noted “somewhat” of an increase in retail spending, gains in manufacturing activity, and slight expansion in the energy sector during September and early October.

On the weaker side, “almost no contacts reported any wage pressure,” evidently of the upward kind as the “majority of firms did not expect to increase employment over the next few months,” the Kansas City report said.

Kansas City’s report covers western Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado and northern New Mexico.