But high-margin classified ad volume has come under pressure in recent years from Internet competitors like Monster.com.

The company said on Friday that the recession in New England had caused The Globe's ad volume to shrink.

Newspaper division revenue was off 2 percent as ad volume fell 9 percent at The Washington Post.

William O. Taylor, chairman of Affiliated, noted that classified ad volume at The Globe was up 7.8 percent.

The board, a private business research group, said ad volume in the 51 newspapers surveyed declined last month in all nine regions.

In February 2000, ad volume was 49.5 percent greater than it had been in February 1999.

Mr. Primis estimated that ad volume for 1989 would be below 1984 levels and that there would be a further decline in 1990.

Newspaper division revenue fell 13.5 percent, as ad volume tumbled 22.5 percent at The Washington Post.

For the entire first quarter, however, ad volume rose to 281.9 pages, up 4.7 percent from 269.26 pages in the period a year earlier.

Newspaper revenue fell 7.1 percent in the quarter as ad volume fell 14.7 percent at The Washington Post.