The Federal Reserve said industrial production was up 0.1 percent in March, with the manufacturing sector alone jumping 0.9 percent in the one-month period.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a 1.6 percent boost in retail sales in March, including a 6.7 percent rise in motor vehicle sales.

In his Weekly Economic Recap, American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello said March was the third month to see industrial production on the rise, with a total boost of 2.3 percent. The output of durable goods gained 1.4 percent in March, with increases in all major durable goods groups. Costello pointed out that the output of nondurable products was more mixed in March than the output of durable goods, with production up 0.5 percent.

Total manufacturing output was 5.1 percent higher than March 2009 levels, the largest year-over-year gain since June 2005, Costello said.

The Census Bureau said retail sales gained 7.6 percent from March 2009, the greatest year-over-year boost since early 2006, Costello noted. When looking at vehicle sales, not including autos, sales were up 0.6 percent from February.

In addition, the Census Bureau also reported that total business inventories, including manufacturing, wholesale and retail, remained unchanged at 1.27 in February.

"It is likely that carrier freight volumes are getting a boost from moderate inventory restocking, as the dollar value of inventories rose in February," Costello said in his Recap. "Sales increased by about the same percentage, thus keeping the important ratio unchanged."