Looking Up

Maybe Christmas is coming a little early this year.

The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), a nonprofit business management association representing companies in the graphic communications industry, recently forecast some good news for the U.S. commercial print industry for the upcoming year. NAPL is predicting U.S. commercial print volume will increase from 2 percent to 4 percent to $76 billion in 2010. A pretty impressive feat considering it declined by 14 percent this year to $73.5 billion.

In addition, commercial printers reported slightly higher volume in September with fewer printers reporting that business was slowing. This may not be the drastic upsweep the industry is looking for but, if predictors are right, it's got to be a start.