The improved outlook came as less than a third of firms (29%) said that conditions had worsened in the past quarter – the lowest level for seven quarters and a further indication that the recession may be coming to an end.

In addition, the number of printers working to capacity has also picked up with 13% reporting a 90-99% rate, compared with just 3% in the previous quarter.

However, more than half of printers have cut prices to fill the presses, resulting in 45% of printers reporting a lessening of margins and 17% saying that they had operated at a loss over the quarter, compared with 14% for the previous three months.

BPIF corporate affairs director Andrew Brown said: "We can, to some extent, breathe a collective sigh of relief that the slowdown in the rate at which the industry has been contracting has started to ease.

"There are also encouraging forecasts that there will be a further measure of improvement in the autumn, reflecting improvements in the wider economy. Although welcome, these early signs of recovery can only be considered tentative at this stage; trade remains very depressed with weak levels of production and orders."

The latest Printing Outlook report is based on an online survey carried out during the period 1-11 September 2009. The survey covered 114 companies employing 10,958 people with a turnover in excess of £1.1bn. The latest issue of Printing Outlook is available for BPIF members and can be downloaded at www.bpifresearch.com

For more, see today's PrintWeek.