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Profits on rise: The after-tax profits of U.S. manufacturers rose to an average 3.7 percent in this year`s first quarter, from 1.2 percent in the previous quarter and 2.8 percent in the year-earlier quarter, the Commerce Department said. Makers of durable goods saw their profits nearly triple, to $7.77 billion in the first quarter from $2.82 billion in the previous quarter. Compared to a year earlier, the gain was even larger; in the year-earlier period durable goods manufacturers saw earnings of only $1.44 billion.
