• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 26, 2023

In a sign that the volatility of the U.S. ad economy may be stabilizing, the U.S. Ad Market Tracker posted its first consecutive month of growth in August since June 2022.

While the growth was modest, rising just 1.2% over August 2022, the U.S. ad market expansion follows July's 6.2% increase and is the third month this year to show some growth.

That said, recent months are comparing more favorably with year-ago declines.

Compared with August 2021, this month's market index is down 1.5%

August typically is one of the lowest-demand months of the year in terms of U.S. advertising inventory, and September and the fourth quarter may be more telling of how sustainable the growth will be.

While Guideline's U.S. Ad Market Tracker is weighted more toward major agencies buying national media, IPG Mediabrands' Magna unit last week issued an update to its quarterly forecasts that boosted its projections for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024 based largely on improvements in quarterly demand.