Retail advertising in the first quarter slipped 0.8% to $4.6 billion, national advertising was down 3.5% to $1.7 billion, and classified advertising declined 13.6% to $3.5 billion.
"The ad community is slowly regaining its footing as the economy continues to show gradual improvement," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm. "What hasn't changed is that newspapers remain a highly valued and trusted resource to readers, and that will continue to make them an attractive vehicle for advertisers."
Within the classified category in the first quarter, automotive rose 4.7% to $1.1 billion. Real estate continued to increase, gaining 2.8% to $766 million. All other classified ads were up 6.6% to $546 million. Recruitment advertising dropped 38.4% to $1.0 billion.
"We are seeing sequential improvement in all our major advertising categories as the overall economy picks up," said NAA Vice President of Market and Business Analysis Jim Conaghan. "That is demonstrated by the fact that three of the four classified categories are now positive."