Fed's Beige Book Signals AI Infrastructure Boom Is Straining Labor and Materials Across U.S.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book points to a new kind of scarcity taking hold across the economy, as the race to build out artificial-intelligence infrastructure squeezes both traditional trades and emerging roles. According to a July 16 Axios report built on the Beige Book released July 15, data-center construction and related capital spending are creating bottlenecks in labor and raw materials that businesses are now reporting from multiple Fed districts.