• Printing shipments tend to expand when the economy is in a “mature recovery phase,” and this has been true of the economy the last couple of years. Print has been doing very well lately. Indeed, North American print markets have enjoyed robust growth and printer’s pricing and profits have strengthened. In terms of sales, according to the US Department of Commerce Census of Manufacturing data, printing shipments were up 1.6 percent through the first four months of 2016. In comparison, all US manufacturing shipments declined over the same period by minus 2.8 percent, so print exceeded all manufacturing by more than 4 percentage points.

• Another source, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), tracks US manufacturing activity in their monthly surveys. Their surveys show that the printing industry ranks near the top in three key metrics among the 18 manufacturing sectors tracked: Printing is ranked number 2 in shipment growth of the 12 manufacturing sectors that experienced increases.
• The US economy is in the seventh year of recovery from the Great Recession of 2007–2009. Although the recovery has been sluggish with fairly tepid growth, it has been a sure and steady climb without interruption.

• the severe displacement of print by digital media is now behind us, so print is back as an industry that will grow in normal economic times.

The Meh News