*LAT daily circulation barely over 600,000

The number was 600,449 for the six months ended Sept. 30, an 8.7 percent drop from a year earlier. Sunday circulation was 900,000 901,119 down 8 8.4 percent. At least the percentage drops were not in the double digits, as happened once more with the SF Chronicle. That paper reported an 11.2 percent drop, which brings its circulation down to a stunningly low 223,549. Just too sad. Here's a rundown on the top 25.

*Update: Here's what LAT publisher Eddy Hartenstein said about the numbers in an email to employees:

It's important to note that the rate of decline is slowing and we are projecting it to continue to slow as we carry our strategic plan forward. Since early April, a cross-departmental team has been focused on our Sunday print edition, which is the second largest of any newspaper in the country, behind only the nationally-distributed New York Times. We've been better coordinating content of interest to that large readership and have increased our budget for a multimedia marketing campaign that has thus far yielded over 20,000 new home delivery orders and better single copy performance. In fact, September circ figures show Sunday losses of just over 6% and October looks stronger yet.