Steele Corporation has the following information for January, February, and March:

January February March
Units produced 10,000 10,000 10,000
Units Sold 7,000 8,500 10,500
Production costs per unit (based on 10,000 units) are as follows:

Direct materials per unit

$12
Direct labor per unit 8
Variable overhead per unit 6
Fixed overhead per unit 4
Variable selling cost per unit 10
Fixed selling & administrative costs per unit 4
There were no beginning inventories for January, and all units were sold for $50. Costs are stable over the three months. Absorption costing income for March was _____________ than variable costing income.