Industrial production rises slightly

Industrial production edged up 0.1 percent in March and increased at an annual rate of 7.8 percent in the first quarter.

Manufacturing output rose 0.9 percent in March, led by widespread gains among durable goods industries. Factory production was likely held down in February by the winter storms but nonetheless rose at an annual rate of 6.6 percent for the first quarter as a whole.

"The U.S. factory sector continues a seesaw pattern of strong and weak months of production but nonetheless is in the throes of an impressive recovery lead by a powerful inventory swing, fiscal stimulus programs, and an Asian-led export rebound," said Cliff Waldman, economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. "The strong 0.9 percent gain in manufacturing production in March came disproportionately from durable goods output but was encouraging in that early supply chain industries such as primary and fabricated metals showed strong production gains, and have done so for months now. While consumer goods production was sluggish, it is not surprising that the output of business equipment is powering the manufacturing rebound as the economy recovers from a deep capital spending plunge and as businesses need to replace worn out equipment, at least enough to facilitate the output needs of the massive inventory replenishment that is now occurring."

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