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Bookstore Sales Eke Out Modest Gain
Printer-friendly versionBookstore sales for April stabilized, reversing the downward trend of the past two months by eking out a slight increase over April 2001. However, April is the third month in a row in which bookstore sales failed to keep pace with overall retail.
Preliminary April bookstore sales figures of $1,042 million were 0.8 percent better than the $1,034 million of the previous April.
Overall retail sales of $297 billion for April 2002 came in 4.9 percent over the $283 billion realized in April 2001.
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2001-2002 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)
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Period
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2001 Final (Millions of Dollars)
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2002 (Millions of Dollars)
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% Increase 2002 Over 2001
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January
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1,698
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2,188
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28.9
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February
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1,163
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1,117
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(4.0)
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March
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1,165
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1,126
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(3.3)
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April
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1,034
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1,042 (p)
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0.8
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YTD
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5,060
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5,473
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8.2
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(p) Preliminary figure
Note: Estimates reflect sales of all types of participating bookstore, 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.