Bookstore Sales Surge in December

Posted Thursday, Feb 21, 2002

Bucking an uncertain economy, bookstore sales for December closed out the year 2001 on a strong note. Preliminary December sales of $2,291 million were 9.6 percent ahead of the $2,090 million sales for December of 2000.

Bookstore sales continued to outperform overall retail. Preliminary overall retail sales of $339 billion amounted to a slim 3.0 percent gain for December over the $329 billion in sales recorded the previous December.

For all of 2001, overall retail sales came in just 3.4 percent ahead of the previous year, compared with a strong 9.7 percent gain for bookstore sales in the same period.

December 2001 was the 23rd month in a row that bookstore sales exceeded sales of the previous year.

 

2000-2001 RETAIL SALES for BOOKSTORES (unadjusted)
Period
2000 Final
(Millions of Dollars)
2001
(Millions of Dollars)
% Increase
2001 Over 2000
January
1,552
1,771
14.1
February
1,133
1,213
7.1
March
1,077
1,214
12.7
April
1,024
1,078
5.3
May
1,166
1,238
6.2
June
1,191
1,251
5.0
July
1,120
1,171
4.6
August
1,708
2,119
24.1
September
1,519
1,634
7.6
October
1,111
1,187
6.8
November
1,211
1,283
5.9
December
2,090
2,292 (p)
9.6
YTD
15,902
17,450
9.7

(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.

Special Note: As of March 2001, the Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch, began using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in place of the Standard Industrial Classification System (SIC). The Bureau of the Census has restated the SIC data for monthly sales to a NAICS basis to create an historic series beginning with January 1992 through March 2001. A more complete summary of methodology will be posted at a later date.

Source: Bureau of the Census, Current Retail Trade Branch.

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