Confidence of US Consumers dips and consumer magazine sales ease

The nation's 200 leading consumer magazines recorded a 0.3 percent drop in average total paid circulation, to 252.8 million, for the first six months of 1981, according to the Gallagher Report. A survey by the newsletter finds that the decline results from a 4 percent drop in single-copy sales to 82.5 million, which represents 32.7 percent of total paid circulation. Subscription sales for the leading 200 consumer titles advanced 1.6 percent for the period, to 170.2 million.