Magazines died off in far lower numbers during the first months of 2010 than they did a year ago, according to a survey of U.S. and Canadian glossies published today by Mediafinder.com.

The number of publications put out to pasture fell to 22 in the first quarter of this year from 95 a year ago, Mediafinder said. Seven magazines ended print operations to go exclusively online, down from 16 in 2009.

Twenty-five brave new publications rolled out in the most recent quarter (with 22 shuttered, that’s a net gain of three!). It’s good to see the field replenished, but the number of new magazines is sharply down from last year’s 110.

Put another way, the first quarter of 2010 saw the total number of U.S. and Canadian magazines rise by three, down from a gain of 15 in 2009.

Today’s turning into a regular festival of faint praise; earlier we learned that the number of newspaper journalists receiving pink slips dropped from 2008 to 2009. Hooray?