December Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey: -11 vs. -6 consensus and -5 prior. Shipments: -17 vs. -8 prior. Capacity utilization: -8 vs. -5 prior. Volume of new orders: -14 vs. -5 prior. “Most firms continued to report declining backlogs as the index remained negative,” the Richmond Fed said. “The vendor lead time index increased from -4 to 1 in December, the first positive reading since June 2022.”