By: Lucia Moses Most of the eight public newspaper companies reporting third-quarter earnings last week showed month-to-month ad revenue improvement. The ability of the recovery to generate job growth remains unclear, though.
Retail advertising ticked up and help-wanted declines continued to narrow in the quarter, although higher newsprint prices and other costs cut into profits. "I think the help-wanted for most companies has really bottomed," said Ken Berents, an analyst with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. "Now it's a question of how strong it'll be."
Publishers were encouraged by positive comments from retailers on fourth-quarter expectations, and the creation of temporary jobs in September. "We're projecting job creation to really turn in the first quarter of 2004," Tribune Co. President and CEO Dennis FitzSimons said during a conference call with analysts. Knight Ridder also pointed to strong fourth-quarter schedules from two auto makers as a reason for optimism.
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