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Modest Gain in Bookstore Sales for October
Printer-friendly versionOctober bookstore sales of $1,064 million were 3.5 percent ahead of the $1,028 million sales figure of a year ago, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch.
With the Census Bureau's recent adjustment of September figures upward from $1,491 million to $1,524 million, October is the fifth month in a row that bookstore sales showed improvement over the previous year.
Overall retail sales for October 2003 of $320 billion were 7.0 percent ahead of the $299 billion in October 2002.
|
Period
|
2002 Final (Millions of Dollars)
|
2003 (Millions of Dollars)
|
% Increase 2003 Over 2002
|
| January |
2,039
|
2,094
|
2.7
|
| February |
1,037
|
1,005
|
(3.1)
|
| March |
1,045
|
929
|
(11.1)
|
| April |
969
|
984
|
1.5
|
| May |
1,142
|
1,105
|
(3.2)
|
|
June
|
1,073
|
1,179
|
9.9
|
| July |
1,059
|
1,129
|
6.6
|
| August |
1,825
|
2,083
|
14.1
|
| September |
1,505
|
1,524
|
1.3
|
| October |
1,028
|
1,064 (p)
|
3.5
|
| YTD |
12,722
|
13,096
|
2.9
|
(p) Preliminary figure
Note: Estimates reflect sales of all types of participating bookstores, including trade, college, religious, chain stores (including superstores), and others. A bookstore is defined as any retail establishment with sales comprised of more than 50 percent new books and periodicals, and estimates include sales of all products in these stores.
Source: Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch.