Output of forestry-related industries lowest on record
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Forestry-related industries (including forestry, lumber, printing and paper) ended the decade 36% below their peak output in 2005, as the cyclical downturn in 2009 accelerated structural changes already occurring in these industries.
Readers continued to migrate to Internet based sources of information, and so the volume of newsprint exports fell 37% from its peak late in 2004. In Canada, several dailies dropped one edition per week, while a national chain filed for bankruptcy.
Newspaper and magazine circulation also dropped. Output shrank in the printing industry to less than $5 billion (in constant 2002 dollars) and paper manufacturing fell to $8.2 billion—its lowest level since records started in the 1980s. Meanwhile, the collapse in U.S. housing starts lowered the demand for lumber. Together, these forces sent forestry output down to $3.5 billion, the lowest it's been since records began in 1986, and brought the cumulative loss to 44% in four years.
The $13.4 billion loss in forestry-related industries since 2005 had a larger impact on gross domestic product (GDP) over that period than did the $12.2 billion drop in motor vehicle output.
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