Production Flat, Housing Starts Drop in March

U.S. industrial output barely inched ahead in March and a booming home-building industry showed signs of leveling off, according to government and Federal Reserve reports, implying that the economy faces little threat from inflation. Manufacturing production showed a flat 0.1% gain last month after rising 0.3% in February, the Fed said, helping slow output to its weakest rate in more than 8 1/2 years. Separately, the Commerce Department said March housing starts slipped for a second straight month and that new permit applications were off sharply from February. Housing starts fell 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.766 million units, after a 1.6% drop in February. March applications for building permits dropped 6%--the biggest decline in more than four years.