New business incorporations increased 1%.

Business formations in the first-quarter edged up to a record 163,051 from the previous high of 161,389 new incorporations in the same three months of 1984, a Dun & Bradstreet Corp. report said. Seven of the nation’s nine census regions reported small increases in new incorporations, the report said. They were led by New England, up 4.6%, and the East-North Central states, up 4.3%. Reporting decreases were the Pacific states, which declined 9%, and the Farm Belt states, which declined 8.9%.