The value of printing shipments for June 2019 was $6.61 billion, down from May’s $6.98 billion, in keeping with what has been established as the new industry seasonality. It’s a little disappointing that June’s $6.61 billion came in a hair under June 2018’s $6.63 billion—and here we define a “hair” as about $20 million. July tends to be the nadir of the year—and we can hope that it won’t be as nadirish as 2017.

Thanks to a really strong start to 2019, year-to-date shipments continue to outpace 2018—January-to-June shipments for 2019 are at $39.8 billion compared to 2018’s $39.6, although the gap is closing.

As we continue into the dog days of summer, maybe July will be a pleasant surprise and August will continue its seasonality.