The US Commerce Department released commercial printing shipments data for June 2013. In current dollars, shipments were $6.33 billion, down -$100 million (-1.6%) compared to 2012. After adjusting for inflation, shipments were down -$213 million after inflation adjustment (-3.3%). For the first half of the year, shipments were $39.3 billion in current dollars, down -$579 million (-1.5%), or -$1.19 billion (-2.9%) after inflation. (click to enlarge chart)

May 2013 printing shipments were revised down by -$34 million, to $6.976 billion. The industry has not had a $7 billion month since October 2012. In 2012, May and October were the only months to exceed $7 billion in current dollar shipments; 2011 had six months exceeding that threshold. Canada's commercial printing business has improved, with current Canada dollar shipments for the last 12 months (June 2012 to May 2013) are up +5.3%. The latest report about shipments and the economy is now available from the e-store. The report includes the latest US and Canada shipments data, in current dollars and inflation-adjusted format, along with forecasts to 2018. This edition includes discussion about economic conditions and forecasts for the balance of 2013 and 2014, employment trends in print and content creation markets, and other topics. The downloadable file includes Microsoft PowerPoint slides, a PDF of the slides, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of the shipments data, and an audio file (.mp3) with Dr. Webb's commentary. # # #