He also has said it relies too heavily on poorly designed tests to gauge progress in reading and math at the expense of a well-rounded education.

NPR: Candidates Differ on Breadth of Education Plans

However, economists expected the core reading, which is a gauge of less volatile goods by excluding energy and food prices, to increase less than it did.

FORBES: March PPI Eases, But Higher Than Expected In Core Items

The last official PMI reading, the government's gauge, came in at 50.6 for December, a third month of expansion.

BBC: China manufacturing activity at two-year high, says HSBC

Although the last reading of Case-Shiller's gauge of prices for 20 cities was flat against a month earlier and down 2.6% year over year, it may be missing a robust turn in housing.

WSJ: AHEAD OF THE TAPE: Broad Economic Changes Find a Home

Reading the Nutrition Facts Panel is an easy way to gauge the amount of sodium present in a food.

CNN: How to be sodium savvy

Stocks benefited from better-than-expected economic data in China, a strong reading on German economic sentiment and an improvement in a gauge of New York manufacturing activity.

WSJ: Global Data Lift U.S. Stocks