Washington ? The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that the U.S. economy cooled off in June and July as consumer spending, especially on autos, slowed significantly after a big surge in early spring.

The survey of business activity compiled from reports from the Fed’s 12 regional banks was the latest indication of what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan termed a “soft patch” developing in the economy in June.

A consumer looks at a wall of plasma screen televisions. He was shopping Wednesday at a store in Richmond, Va. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket durable goods rose 0.7 percent.

In another sign of softness, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders to American factories for big-ticket durable goods eked out a small 0.7 percent gain in June, reflecting a surge in demand for military aircraft, following back-to-back declines in orders in April and May.

The Fed’s report, known as the beige book for the color of its cover, will be used when central bank policy-makers meet Aug. 10 to decide whether to raise interest rates to make sure that inflation does not get out of hand.

The new survey found that wholesale prices, especially of such commodities as energy, steel and cement, were rising but that little of those price pressures outside of energy were being passed on to consumers.

Because consumer prices outside of energy have remained moderate, most analysts believe the Fed will stick to its plan to raise rates at a moderate pace in coming months. They are forecasting another quarter-point increase in the federal funds rate at the August meeting. The Fed raised the funds rate for the first time in four years on June 30.

The Fed survey depicted an economy that was continuing to rebound from a sustained period of sluggishness that included the 2001 recession and weak unemployment growth that lasted until mid-2003.

However, the Fed report found, as have other indicators, that activity slowed a bit in the late spring.