Graphic Arts Index
By Staff -- graphic arts online, 1/1/2003
Spending for nondurable consumer goods was essentially flat during the second quarter of 2002, but then resumed its growth during the third quarter of last year. The early signs for the final quarter of 2002 were generally encouraging, at least as an indication of strength in nondurable goods demand, if not for economic conditions as a whole. Consumer nondurable purchases likely will have increased at about a 3% annual rate over the final three months of this year. This is continued good news for the book trade, as the composite price index for books of all types was running 4.4% higher this past October than during October 2001.
| Actual Value | Annual % Change | |||||
| Q3/01 | Q2/02 | Q3/02 | 2001 | 2002* | 2003* | |
| Consumer Spending – Nondurables (1) | 1,868.3 | 1,920.9 | 1,927.2 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
| Producer Price Index – Book Publishing (2) | 263.4 | 272.5 | 275.4 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| Consumer Price Index – Reading Mat'ls (3) | 192.5 | 195.5 | 196.7 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| Price Index – Educational Books (3) | 299.5 | 315.8 | 320.4 | 5.7 | 5.5 | 4.8 |
| Detailed Price Indexes (2) | 10/01 | 9/02 | 10/02 | 2001 | 2002* | 2003* |
| Elementary Textbooks | 446.3 | 468.5 | 470.3 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 4.8 |
| College Textbooks | 357.6 | 385.5 | 385.5 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 6.2 |
| Scientific & Professional Books | 227.3 | 243.6 | 243.6 | 3.1 | 6.2 | 4.5 |
| Medical Books | 205.2 | 205.2 | 205.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| Religious Books | 202.2 | 206.1 | 206.1 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| Adult Trade | 181.9 | 202.3 | 200.3 | 0.9 | 6.3 | 2.2 |
| Juvenile Books | 232.8 | 232.8 | 234.2 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 1.3 |
| General Reference Books | 182.7 | 188.6 | 184.2 | 0.5 | -0.7 | 0.9 |
| Encyclopedias | 155.0 | 176.1 | 164.4 | -2.8 | 3.3 | 1.1 |
| (1) Seasonally adjusted annualized in billions of 1996 dollars; U.S. Department of Commerce | ||||||
| (2) Index: 12/80=100; U.S. Department of Labor | ||||||
| (3) Index; 1982-1984=100; U.S. Department of Labor | ||||||
| *=Forecast | ||||||
