Bookstore sales fell slightly in October, dropping 0.5%, to $728 million, compared to October 2013, according to statistics released Thursday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau.

With the small October decline, bookstore sales were down 5.1% for the first 10 months of 2014 compared to the same period last year. Sales through October were $9.29 billion in 2014 compared to $9.79 billion in 2013.

Sales for the entire retail segment were up 4.7% in October and rose 4.0% in the January-October period.