The 2008/09 recession hit the paper and products industry hard. Revenues from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with year-earlier levels declined sharply; for 2009, overall revenues declined nearly 10%. From a volume perspective in 2009, the paper and products industry declined more than 9% while average annual pricing eased 0.4%. Margins declined 13%. Now with the U.S. economy in recovery for more than one full year, optimism is beginning to return to the paper and products industry. Nevertheless, the industry arrived late to the recovery, only seeing 1.4% revenue growth from a year earlier during the first quarter of 2010. It was not until the second quarter that the industry started to see double-digit growth in revenues.
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