April 2007 printing shipments were $8.3 billion, +2.2% last year on a current dollar basis. For January through April, shipments are up +2.9%.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, were down by -0.3%, and were essentially flat with 2006. For the first third of the year, commercial printing are up slightly, at +0.4%.

These comparisons are based on the revised shipments data issued by the Commerce Department in May.

We will have further discussion of these data in "Mondays with Dr. Joe" on June 11.

A new monthly printing shipments "data to go" report will be available on the WhatTheyThink e-store on Tuesday, June 5, and will include the new Commerce Department data from 2003 to April 2007 on a current and inflation-adjusted basis in Excel format, as well as audio commentary.