STATE OF BUSINESS: Upward March

U.S. production was climbing up again after its midsummer breathing spell, but not all the news was cheery. Items: ¶ The Federal Reserve Board index of industrial production rose to 220% of the 1935-39 average in September, compared with 218% in August and 213% in July, the year’s low. Gross national product in the third quarter reached an annual rate of $328 billion, a new high, compared to $325,600,000,000 in the previous quarter. ¶ Corporate profits, squeezed by taxes and rising costs, dipped for the second quarter in a row. The annual rate dropped $2 billion to $46.5 billion, of which an estimated $25.2 billion will go for taxes. ¶ Plant expansion was tapering off, in the fourth quarter was expected to drop from the record annual rate of $27.2 billion to $26.4 billion.