The Iowa Leading Indicators Index increased slightly to 109.4 in December 2014 from 109.3 in November, the Iowa Department of Revenue reported. The six-month annualized change in the index fell to -0.2 percent from 0.4 percent in November, the first negative change in that measure since April 2013. Although negative, the measure is far from the -2.0 percent change that signals a recession, the agency said. The top three positive contributors in December were average weekly unemployment claims, new residential building permits and diesel fuel consumption. The new orders index, which measures future manufacturing demand,  increased to 51.6 in December from 45.2 in November, the first positive change after five months of declines. However, that index fell short of the 66.1 value seen one year ago, which resulted in the average for the index dropping to 61.7. The decline in the average means that Iowa companies should expect to add manufacturing jobs at a positive pace in the first half of the year, but pullbacks in exports will restrain growth, said Ernie Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business