What a Difference a Point Makes — Printing Shipments Part II

Regarding the recent increase in print volume and its possible attribution to political spending, we have this to add. A client brought this question up as they looked at charted data as saw some rises in even-numbered years. There aren’t that many years to analyze, since the data series that we use start in 1992. What we can say is that up until 1998, there were no significant monthly changes in shipments compared to odd-numbered years that could be solely attributed to political printing. From 2000 to 2005, however, there appears to be upward bumps in the share that election months have in the year; but it’s not that easy. In even numbered years, the entire period from July through December is stronger than in odd-numbered years, including a robust December. This is where the statisticians say “that’s interesting,” and then go onto the next topic.