Graphic Arts Index
Staff -- graphic arts online, 4/1/2002
Consumer spending on nondurable goods like books, magazines, and greeting cards rose at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 2.4% during Q4 2001. This was a rebound from the anemic 0.3% and 0.6% growth rates recorded over Q2 and Q3 last year. The government's numbers for Q4 2001 showed that consumers had more disposable income to spend on printed materials, since average prices of other expenses such as gasoline and fuel oil fell between the third and fourth quarters of 2001. Spending for durable goods soared during Q4 last year (thanks to auto-makers' 0% financing incentives), but consumer spending for services grew only at a 1.8% annualized rate.
| Actual Value | Annual % Change | |||||
| General Economic (1) | Q4/00 | Q3/01 | Q4/01 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Gross Domestic Product | 9,304 | 9,310 | 9,333 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 3.3 |
| Business Equipment Investment | 1,099 | 1,019 | 1,011 | -4.4 | 0.4 | 5.2 |
| Consumer Spending (Total) | 6,341 | 6,444 | 6,448 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| Nondurable Consumer Spending | 1,867 | 1,882 | 1,882 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 3.3 |
| Industrial Production (2) | Dec-00 | Nov-01 | Dec-01 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Printing & Publishing | 106.5 | 98.8 | 97.4 | -4.8 | -1.3 | 1.1 |
| Newspapers | 92.3 | 81.7 | 81.3 | -11.9 | -3.4 | 1.4 |
| Periodicals, Books & Cards | 110.4 | 103.5 | 100.9 | -1.4 | -0.7 | 0.8 |
| Job Printing | 111.7 | 105.3 | 104.1 | -3.3 | -1.1 | 1.2 |
| Producer Prices (3) | Jan-01 | Dec-01 | Jan-02 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Commercial Printing | 157.1 | 157.0 | 157.0 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Printing Trades Machinery | 143.4 | 143.3 | 143.0 | 0.9 | -0.3 | 0.9 |
| Printing Ink | 137.5 | 139.0 | 139.0 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| Paper | 151.5 | 146.9 | 146.0 | 0.6 | -0.7 | 3.3 |
| (1) Seasonally adjusted annualized rates in billions of 1996 dollars; U.S. Commerce Department (2) Industrial Production Index; 1992=100, seasonally adjusted; Federal Reserve Board (3) Producer Price Index; 1982=100; U.S. Department of Labor |
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