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Bookstore Sales Eke Out Modest Gain
Bookstore 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.
2001-2002 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)
|
Period
|
2001 Final (Millions of Dollars)
|
2002 (Millions of Dollars)
|
% Increase 2002 Over 2001
|
January
|
1,698
|
2,188
|
28.9
|
February
|
1,163
|
1,117
|
(4.0)
|
March
|
1,165
|
1,126
|
(3.3)
|
April
|
1,034
|
1,042 (p)
|
0.8
|
YTD
|
5,060
|
5,473
|
8.2
|
(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.