A widely followed advertising forecaster says he...

A widely followed advertising forecaster says he expects U.S. ad spending to rise 8.4% this year, a slight downward revision from his prediction six months ago of 9% growth. Robert Coen, senior vice president for the ad agency McCann-Erickson Inc. in New York, said growth in local retail advertising in newspapers had been weaker than he had expected, accounting for most of the revision. Even with the revision, Coen said the growth in total domestic ad spending to $118.8 billion in 1988 should be stronger than the rises of 7.4% in 1987, 7.8% in 1986 and 7.9% in 1985.