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Manufacturing in the Philadelphia area rose to 25.3, a Federal Reserve report said Thursday. Orders and shipments also accelerated.

Ford Motor Co. reported its first-quarter earnings fell 38.5% to $1.2 billion or 60 cents a share, compared with $1.95 billion or 94 cents for the same period last year.

Heavy equipment and engine maker Caterpillar Inc. said its first-quarter income rose to $581 million or $1.63 a share, from $420 million or $1.19 a year earlier.

Heavy-duty component supplier Dana Corp. said Wednesday it earned $18 million or 12 cents a share in the first quarter, down 72% from last year’s $65 million or 43 cents a share.

Prices paid by consumers rose 0.6% in March, with the so-called “core” consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, rising 0.4%, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Truckload and logistics firm XRG Inc. said Wednesday its board appointed Richard Francis the company’s new chief executive officer, effective immediately.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has again postponed its revised heavy-duty truck stopping-distance rule, saying it needed to spend more time on a cost-benefit analysis of the proposal.

A bill requiring motorists on Florida highways to stay out of the far left lane, except when passing another vehicle, was approved by both branches of the state Legislature April 7 and expected shortly at the governor’s office, an official with the state’s Office of Policy and Budget said.

SCS Transportation Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $4 million or 26 cents a share, up from $2.6 million or 17 cents a year earlier.

Truckload carrier Knight Transportation Inc. said late Wednesday its net income for the first quarter was $12.8 million or 22 cents per share, compared with $9.3 million or 16 cents a year earlier.