Manufacturing’s after-tax profits increased.

The after-tax profits of manufacturing corporations averaged 4.5 cents per dollar of revenue in the first three months of the year, up 1.1 cent from the fourth quarter of 1986. The Commerce Department said those profits totaled a seasonally adjusted $25.87 billion in the January-March quarter, compared to $19.09 billion in the final three months of last year, when profits averaged 3.4 cents per dollar of revenue. Revenue totaled a seasonally adjusted $569.73 billion in the first quarter, compared to $553.43 billion in the fourth quarter.