# Table column spacing: right most column has too much space, should be shared

I made a table. It has 5 columns, the last 4 centered.

Right now, they are not evenly spaced. Namely, the last column is way too far from the others. How do I go about fixing this? Here is the code (apa6 class):

\begin{table}\footnotesize
\caption{Differences in valuation between different types of third parties}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c}
\hline
Measure & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\
\hline
1. Low Comp Low Pun & -.131 & -.016 & -.053 & .039 \\
2. Low Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
3. High Comp Low Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
4. High Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
\hline
\multicolumn{5}{l}{Note. Bottom left within conditions, top right and diagonal between conditions}\\
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

-

It's a feature of the underlying \halign that extra space is put into the last column, You can rearrange the space by making the natural width wider then the spanning entry.

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}

\begin{table}\footnotesize
\caption{Differences in valuation between different types of third parties}
\noindent
\begin{tabular*}{\textwidth}{@{\extracolsep{\textwidth minus \textwidth}}l c c c c@{}}
\hline
Measure & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\
\hline
1. Low Comp Low Pun & -.131 & -.016 & -.053 & .039 \\
2. Low Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
3. High Comp Low Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
4. High Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
\hline
\multicolumn{5}{l}{Note. Bottom left within conditions, top right and diagonal between conditions}\\
\end{tabular*}
\end{table}

\end{document}

-

You need making the last line shorter, e.g. in the following way

\begin{table}\footnotesize
\caption{Differences in valuation between different types of third parties}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c}
\hline
Measure & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 \\
\hline
1. Low Comp Low Pun & -.131 & -.016 & -.053 & .039 \\
2. Low Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
3. High Comp Low Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
4. High Comp High Pun & -.077 & -.062 & -.070 & .031 \\
\hline
\multicolumn{5}{l}{\begin{tabular}{l}Note. Bottom left within conditions,\\ top right and diagonal between conditions
\end{tabular}
}
\\
\end{tabular}
\end{table}


I would reccommend also writing $-.062$ instead of -.062.

-
Thanks. Do you mind telling me why $is better? – evt May 3 '13 at 16:44 @evt Because, e.g., $-1\$ gives a proper minus sign before 1, whereas -1 produces a hyphen before 1. – Przemysław Scherwentke May 3 '13 at 16:46