Tim Mullaney

USA TODAY

The simplest way to make sense of the pile of anecdotes in the Federal Reserve's Beige Book review of December's economy is to just keep this score in your head.

The Fed's report released Wednesday says nine of the 12 Federal Reserve districts showed ``moderate" growth in December and only two had "modest to moderate'' growth. For November, the same score was 7-4. In each month, one district came with an asterisk -- more on that later.

Maybe not quite a call to break out the Champagne. But the report is consistent with the picture emerging from more formal data: The economy is picking up, there are more areas of strength than there have been, and some areas of the country are beginning to improve in a noteworthy way.

Let's begin with two districts whose prospects the central bank upgraded this month -- the Federal Reserve Bank districts of Atlanta and Chicago.

The Atlanta improvement largely reflects what's happening in Florida, where unemployment is plummeting. Onetime basket-case cities like Jacksonville have sub-6% unemployment rates, with Miami, Orlando and Tampa no higher than6.3%. The Beige Book picks up similar signals, with hotel bookings and rates up in the tourism-dependent district, as car sales, apartment construction and logistics companies reported positive news.

The last is especially notable: When logistics and transportation companies are doing well, that means companies are shipping stuff. Energy investment is also surging as Gulf of Mexico drilling grows, the report said.

In the Midwest, autos are part of the story, as the car industry rebounds. But the Beige Book also reported gains in steel demand, construction materials and heavy equipment in the Chicago district, which includes all of Iowa and most of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. Even Christmas retail sales were better than expected.

There are caveats, as always. Boston and Philadelphia are still in the modest-to-moderate camp, and Kansas City is this month's asterisk, with the Fed saying its regional economy "held steady" in November, with signs of local weakness in manufacturing and logistics. And there aren't many signs that sluggish gains in wages are going to be reversed soon -- most, but not all, of the reports point to more of the same.

But the overall picture is one of more optimism, more broadly shared. In New York, the Beige Book reports, December attendance at Broadway shows rose 4%. In the Chicago district, a more broad-shouldered bunch perhaps, makers of recreational vehicles told the Fed they expect a strong 2014. Maybe with a few Buds in the fridge.