Price Spurt

Along with other consumer items, the U.S. public is now paying more for magazines. Last month Reader's Digest and Look raised their newsstand price from 350 to 500. TIME increased from 40-c- to 50-c-. Last year the Saturday Evening Post and the Saturday Review jumped from 25-c- to 35-c-. Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report rose from 35-c- to 40-c-, Cosmopolitan and Redbook from 35-c- to 50-c-. Holiday spurted from 60-c- to 75-c-, Town & Country from 75-c- to $1.00.

The increases were substantial, explain the publishers, because costs--especially wages and printing-plant expenses--have risen sharply. To date, there has been no audible squawk from readers, and newsstand sales of most magazines have not suffered. To be sure, newsstand sales generally account for only a small percentage of overall sales, most of which are by subscription. But then, it is likely that subscription rates will also rise soon.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.