The US economy stalled in recent weeks, with hiring and inflation slowing and access to credit narrowing, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey of regional business contacts.

“Overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks,” the Fed said Wednesday in the report, published two weeks before each meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee. “Several districts noted that banks tightened lending standards amid increased uncertainty and concerns about liquidity.”

“Overall price levels rose moderately during this reporting period, though the rate of price increases appeared to be slowing,” the Beige Book said.

The report marks a step down from the tone of the previous Beige Book — published in early March just before SVB’s failure — which showed an economy that remained resilient though with growing doubts about the rest of the year.

The Beige Book likely reinforces the chances that Fed policymakers will pause their run of interest-rate hikes following an expected quarter-point increase at the next gathering May 2-3. It also may add to concerns that the economy is slipping into recession, an outcome forecast by Fed staff economists at the last policy meeting in March.

Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the US economy, “was generally seen as flat to down slightly,” the Fed said. Wages remained elevated but showed some moderation and the labor market showed signs of loosening up, according to the report.

The report, put together by the Richmond Fed, draws from anecdotal information collected by the institution’s 12 regional banks through April 10.

It was the first Beige Book since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in early March spurred financial-market turmoil and concern about contagion across the banking sector.

Those worries have calmed in the past few weeks following emergency measures by the Fed and other regulators to shore up the sector. Central bank officials have since turned to assessing the impact of potentially tighter lending conditions on the wider economy, with the Beige Book giving an early sense of the effects.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.