NPES Third Quarter Equipment Shipments Data--Some Good News, Some Bad

On December 1, 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research said that “the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy” and what the NPES equipment shipment data has been showing since December 2006. NPES shipment data includes prepress, lithographic presses and bindery and finishing equipment sold in the U.S. The 3rd quarter shipment data came in at $361.9 million which was down 5.6% from 2007 levels. Unfortunately... that’s the good news and the bad all rolled into one. It was good that things didn’t get any worse despite the fact that the U.S. economy has clearly deteriorated, but it was bad that we didn’t get a boost from sales at drupa 2008.