Among viewers 18 to 49, the rate of decline has slowed to 5 percent.

In the first quarter, revenue growth is expected to slow to 8 percent.

Over the last 22 years, however, the nation's economic growth has slowed to 2.3 percent a year on average.

From 1988 to the present, he said, the growth had slowed to 1.6 percent.

The measures approved today would slow the annual growth to 5.9 percent, on the average.

These increases are expected to slow western Germany's growth to 3 percent this year.

By some estimates, growth in domestic advertising spending is expected to slow to 3 to 5 percent for the second half of this year.

They said world economic growth is expected to slow this year to 2.4 percent from 4 percent in 2002.

But growth in exports slowed to 6.2 percent last year, half the 1994 advance.

The agency predicts that economic growth will slow to just 2.5 percent a year beginning in 2010.