Central Atlantic remains positive

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Va., said Central Atlantic manufacturing grew for the second consecutive month in December. The diffuse business index for the region fell into negative territory in October but held above the break-even point of zero with a reading of five in December, showing slightly slower growth than November, when the index stood at nine. In December, five of eight of the broad component indicators that make up the index were positive but only capacity utilization and vendor lead time posted readings that beat November's scores. Slower growth was posted for shipments, with the index down from 11 to six and volume of orders, which fell from 11 to 10. The index for wages remained unchanged with a reading of 10. The number of employees index dropped from positive three to negative three in the month. The index uses zero as a break even point. Above zero indicates growth.