June's Confidence Reading Highest in Nearly One Year

Confidence rose in June to the highest level in nearly a year, with 29.5% of the printers surveyed by NAPL now expecting business to improve during the six months ahead. That's well up from 25.2% in May, and a record-low 21.0% in March. It's also the highest confidence reading since September 2000, when 36.9% of printers expected business to improve. Belief that the economy will turn up by year end is the source of the growing optimism.

Just 21.4% of Western printers expect business to improve, while 78.6% think that it either will stay the same (53.6%) or decline further (25.0%).

The Midwest has the highest percentage of printers expecting improvement (32.9%) and the lowest anticipating decline (14.3%). Last December, just 19.2% foresaw improvement versus 23.1% anticipating decline.

More Southern printers expect business to improve (28.3%) than at any time since January (31.3%). However, 32.6% think that it will decline, up from 18.8% at the start of 2001, and the highest of any region.

In the East, 30.2% of printers foresee improvement, up from just 16.3% in March, while 20.9% anticipate decline, down from 29.8% in February.

Printer's Pulse data is based on input from approximately 520 commercial printers on the NAPL Select Business Panel, and compiled by the Printing Economic Research Center, National Association for Printing Leadership. Respondents are selected to be geographically representative of the industry, and encompass all sizes, product categories, and processes.

Questions about Printer's Pulse can be directed to NAPL chief economist Andrew Paparozzi toll-free, at 1-800-642-NAPL (in Canada, telephone 1-800-336-2751). Survey findings are covered more extensively in NAPL's quarterly Printing Business Report; to order a subscription, contact NAPL Customer Service, 75 W. Century Rd., Paramus, N.J. 07652.