The U.S. economy picked up a little in the late fall according to a survey done by the Federal Reserve and released Wednesday.

Shoppers spent a bit more and factories bumped up production, the U.S. central bank said in its latest snapshot of business activity indicators.

The latest Federal Reserve survey of U.S. economic conditions shows a mild improvement, including a slight improvement in consumer spending. (Paul Moseley/Associated Press)

It said economic conditions have "generally improved" since the last report in late October, with eight of its 12 regions showing "some pickup in activity or improvement in conditions."

Those were Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco. Conditions in the other four — Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond and Atlanta — were either "little changed" or "mixed."

Jennifer Lee, an economist with BMO Capital Markets, said in a commentary the report shows "the on-again, off-again U.S. economic recovery is taking another step forward [to the on-again side]."

The survey said retailers are "more optimistic about the holiday season" than in the October report and auto dealers are rebuilding inventories. It described manufacturing as "mixed to moderately improving."

On the negative side, shipping activity was flat to negative, the commercial real estate market was weak or "deteriorating further" and bank lending and credit was still tight. The survey said job cuts had generally slowed.

"In other words," said Lee, "the 'less bad' theme is still playing out."

The report also found that inflation remains under control, which will add to the expectation that the Federal Reserve will hold its key bank-lending rate at a record low near zero when it meets on Dec. 15-16.

With files from The Associated Press