Graphic Arts Index
By Staff -- graphic arts online, 10/1/2004
Reports of major equipment orders at and after the Drupa show in May suggest that equipment orders have expanded in response to growing printing volume and printers' expectations of continued business improvement. However, actual sales by U.S. printing equipment manufacturers dipped in the spring, before the show. A 2% gain in U.S. printing equipment shipments is expected this year, together with an even larger rise in imported equipment. With ad spending predicted to be 8% to 10% higher this year through June, printers' sales expectations have risen.
| Actual Monthly Value | Annual Percent Change | |||||
| July 2003 | June 2004 | July 2004 | 2003 | 2004† | 2005† | |
| Employment (1)* | ||||||
| Printing | 678.8 | 664 | 662.3 | -3.8 | -1.9 | 1.6 |
| Publishing | 922.4 | 917.6 | 915 | -3.9 | -1.1 | 0.7 |
| Average Hourly Earnings (2) | ||||||
| Printing | 15.36 | 15.68 | 15.9 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 2.2 |
| Commercial Lithograph | 16.81 | 17.08 | 17.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| Printing Trades Machinery Prices (3) | ||||||
| Printing Presses, Offset Litho | 156.6 | 154.8 | 155 | 0.0 | -0.3 | 0.0 |
| Printing Presses, Other Than Litho | 164 | 164.2 | 164 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Binding Machinery & Equipment | 179.4 | 177.5 | 181.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Graphics Arts Machinery & Supplies Shipments (4) | ||||||
| Q2 2003 | Q1 2004 | Q2 2004 | 2003 | 2004† | 2005† | |
| Printing Equipment Shipments | 432 | 481 | 396 | -14.2 | 2.0 | 9.5 |
| Graphics Arts Supplies Shipments | 313 | 286 | 298 | -6.0 | -3.1 | 6.2 |
| (1) Thousands of employees: U.S. Department of Labor; (2) Dollars per hour: U.S. Department of Labor; (3) Producer Price Index, 1982 = 100: U.S. Department of Labor; (4) $ Millions * latest employment and earnings data is for August †Forecast |
||||||
