Karim writes:

It looks like the inventory rebuild has peaked,

Agreed, pay back from Q4 caution might have masked underlying weakness from tightening fiscal which intensifies some into Q2 as sequesters kick in, driving the deficit down to maybe 5% of GDP. The lesson of Japan may be that with 0 rates and QE, 5% might not be enough for anything more than stagnation.

but demand related indicators (employment, exports, imports) holding up.
The employment index is now at a 9mth high.