December 2010 commercial printing shipments were $7.48 billion, up $347 million (+4.9%) compared to 2009. Adjusting for inflation, shipments were up +3.3%. This brought the year's shipments to $86.7 billion. “Despite a dreadful first quarter, where shipments compared to Q1 of 2009 were down -5.7%, the US commercial printing business had nine months of improved sales. Those months were up +3.2% compared to the same period of 2009,” explained Dr. Joe Webb, director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center. “We must keep in mind that our industry was just short of $100 billion in 2008, and it's not likely we will get back to those levels. But our industry has restructured, weak companies had no choice but to leave or be acquired, leaving healthier companies with better bottom lines.”

Download Print Shipments Report (zip) which includes: Adobe PDF and Powerpoint files (for easy cut and paste) with two graphs and an executive summary Excel file with the data MP3 Audio file with commentary from Dr. Joe Webb

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