US Bookstire sales rise again in June - up 5%

 Shelf Awareness

June bookstore sales rose 5%, to $770 million, compared to June 2015, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau.

This marked the 10th month in a row that bookstore sales have increased, following gains of 3.1% in May, 9.7% in April, 10.7% in March, 7.2% in February, 3.8% in January, 9.6% in December, 7.5% in November and rises of nearly 7% in October and September.

For the year to date, bookstore sales have risen 6.1%, to $5.44 billion.

Total retail sales in June rose 3.5%, to $463.8 billion. For the year to date, total retail sales have risen 3.2%, to $2,659 billion.

Note: under Census Bureau definitions, the bookstore category consists of "establishments primarily engaged in retailing a general line of new books. These establishments may also sell stationery and related items, second-hand books, and magazines."