MILLIONS SPENT ON SIGN-MAKING SUPPLIES IN ONE WEEK

Here is one gauge of Americans’ enthusiasm for political statements: Sales of poster boards, markers and other sign-making supplies jumped more than 30 percent in the week before Donald Trump’s inauguration and the Jan. 21 Women’s March, according to data from the NPD Group, which tracks sales of consumer goods.

That week, an estimated $6 million was spent on supplies — not insignificant considering that many of the items cost $1 or less.

Sales of foam boards rose 42 percent. Poster board sales grew 33 percent, and in the week before the inauguration, stores sold about one-third of the 6.8 million poster boards sold in January. Paint markers and fabric paint for T-shirts also sold more briskly than usual, said Leen Nsouli, director of industry analysis for office suppliers at NPD.

The sales jump was an unexpected boon to office supply retailers, which had seen sales drop for 22 weeks with the exception of the week before Christmas, and the two weeks before the march.

John Minchillo, The Associated Press Protesters build a wall of signs near the White House on Jan. 21, the day of the Women’s March.