Business news : US , Imports of Camping Products up Through October

Imports of camping apparel and gear were running 4.79 percent ahead of last year for the first ten months of 2013, outpacing growth in overall consumer goods imports, according to data released this week by the U.S. Census.

The agency estimated imports of camping apparel and gear reach $7.88 from January through October, or $360 million more than the comparable period in 2012. Imports of camping apparel and gear reached $776 million in October, up 0.9 percent from September.

Imports of all toys, games and sporting goods, however, declined by $372 million, or 1.3 percent, to $27.5 billion during the ten month period.

Imports of apparel, textiles/nonwool or cotton increased 6.2 percent, or by $2.03 billion during the 10 months to $34.6 billion. Footwear imports reached $16.2 billion, up 2.2 percent.

Imports of all consumers goods, which is a broad category that spans pharmaceuticals, furniture, cellular phones and house wares, increased by 3.87 percent. The four fastest growing consumer product import categories for the 10 months were numismatic coins (60.0 percent); gem diamonds (15.2 percent), artworks, antiques, stamps, etc (13.7 percent) and cell phones and other related goods ((13.2 percent), which also grew more in absolute dollar terms - $8.66 billion - than any other consumer goods category by a factor of more than two.

By press release