The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said the Fifth District Manufacturing Survey continued to grow but cooled to a more moderate pace in December. The composite index fell from its record high 30 in November to a reading of 20.
The decline was fueled largely by a decline in new orders, down 19 points to 16, backlog of orders, down 25 points to -4, and shipments, down 9 points to 24. Still, manufacturing firms remained very optimistic, as all expectations indicators increased save for vendor lead time, which fell slightly from 10 to 7.
