DETROIT — Chrysler says its sales rose 11 percent last month, a sign that Americans continue to buy cars and trucks despite economic uncertainty.

The Detroit automaker says it sold nearly 157,000 cars and trucks last month in the U.S., its best April since 2007.

Chrysler’s performance was led by the Ram pickup, with sales up 49 percent over April of last year.

Industry analysts expect an overall increase of around 10 percent for the month when automakers report results today.

Brighter view on jobs, pay increasesWASHINGTON — Americans are more optimistic the job market is healing and will deliver higher pay later this year. That brighter outlook, along with rising home prices, cheaper gasoline and a surging stock market, could offset some of the drag from recent tax increases and government spending cuts.A gauge of consumer confidence rose in April, reversing a decline in March, the Conference Board, a private research group, said Tuesday. The board attributed the gain to optimism about hiring and pay increases. Economists also cited higher home values and record stock prices.Despite the rise in the index, to 68.1 from 61.9 in March, confidence remains well below its historic average of 92.

Home prices up 9.3% over last yearWASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose 9.3 percent in February compared with a year ago, the most in nearly seven years. The gains were driven by a growing number of buyers who bid on a limited supply of homes.The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased from an 8.1 percent year-over-year gain in January.And annual prices rose in February in all 20 cities for the second month in a row.Phoenix led with an annual gain of 23 percent in February.

Employment compensation risesWASHINGTON — Americans’ wages increased at a faster rate from January through March than the previous quarter, a trend that helped boost consumer spending at the start of the year. But benefits barely grew.The Labor Department said Tuesday that an index that measures wages and benefits rose 0.3 percent during the first quarter. That’s down from a 0.4 percent gain in the October-December quarter and the smallest gain in a year.Wages and salaries rose 0.5 percent, up from the 0.3 percent gain in the previous quarter.

CEO ranked 2nd on Yahoo’s pay scaleSAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer emerged as the Internet company’s second highest paid executive during her first five-and-half months on the job.Regulatory documents filed Tuesday revealed that Mayer received a pay package valued at $36.6 million last year. Most of the compensation consisted of stock awards that Mayer got in July when she ended a 13-year stint as a top Google executive to become Yahoo’s CEO.Most of the components of Mayer’s pay had been previously disclosed.It wasn’t previously known Mayer ranked second on Yahoo’s pay scale last year.Henrique de Castro, another former Google executive who became Yahoo’s chief operating officer in November, eclipsed Mayer with a compensation package valued at $39.2 million.