At 101.6% of its 2002 average, industrial output in March was 4% above its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization--a gauge of slack in the economy--advanced 0.2 percentage point to 73.2%, a rate 7.4 percentage points below its average from 1972 to 2009, but 3.7 percentage points above the rate from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, consumer goods declined 0.2% in March. However, output in the first quarter rose at an annual rate of 4.9%, and the index in March was 3.3% above its year-earlier level. Also in March, the production of consumer durables strengthened by 2%, supported by a jump in automotive products. Posting less of a jump, the output of non-energy non-durables moved up 0.2%, while the production of consumer energy products actually contracted 3.7%. According to the Federal Reserve, the gain in non-energy non-durables reflected increases in food, tobacco and clothing, which more than offset decreases in both chemical and paper products. Meanwhile, the index for consumer nondurable energy products was weighed down in March by the weakness in residential sales by utilities.

The index for business equipment expanded 1.4% in March, rising at an annual rate of 13.2% for the first quarter. The quarterly gain was boosted by strength in the production of industrial and information processing equipment, the latter of which posted an increase of 1.9%, led largely by gains in search and detection equipment as well as measuring and controlling instruments.