A Federal Reserve survey shows the US economy continues to grow steadily, with gains in all regions and most industries.

The Fed’s regular Beige Book report, which will feed into its policy meeting on December 17-18, painted a generally good picture of the economy on Wednesday in the wake of October’s government shutdown.

Even so, growth was described as still just “modest to moderate”, shy of the robust pace policymakers have been aiming for with their huge stimulus program.

And the pace of job creation, a key focus of Fed policy, remained dull: a “modest” increase in five of the Fed’s 12 regions and flat in the rest.

Businesses across the United States said manufacturers were generally optimistic about near-term growth prospects, the survey showed.

Retailers had also been hopeful ahead of the holiday shopping season that began last week.

Tourism, real estate and transportation industries were experiencing firm growth, and car industry sales were mostly strong.

Banking conditions were generally stable, the report said, with some pickup in loan demand and banks in some areas feeling comfortable enough to ease loan standards.

Price and wage pressures remained under control, although the survey said businesses increasingly cited problems hiring people with adequate skills.

“Difficulty with finding qualified workers, especially for high-skilled positions, was frequently reported,” it said.

There was little lingering impact from the partial government shutdown in the first half of October, which had sparked worries at the time that consumers and businesses would freeze spending.

But some respondents expressed worries about another round of sharp government spending cuts mandated for January, if Democrats and Republicans in Congress cannot come up with an alternative budget program before then.

The report is just one of the inputs that will inform the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) policy review process at its meeting.

Economists and investors are eyeing it and other data to see if the economy is strong enough for the Fed to begin cutting its $US85 billion ($A93.27 billion) a month bond-buying program, aimed at holding down long-term interest rates to stimulate investment and growth.