Ad employment rebounded in October with increase of 6,200 jobs
Ad employment bounced back in October despite signs of weakness in internet media. Overall U.S. employment grew at a slower pace last month.
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Advertising, PR and related services
U.S. employment in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classification of advertising, public relations and related services came in at 493,900 jobs in October based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
The ad market rebounded with a gain of 6,200 jobs in October followed a loss of 3,900 jobs in September.
BLS revised the September figure from a preliminary loss of 8,700 jobs it reported a month ago.
This BLS jobs bucket includes ad agencies, PR agencies and related services such as media buying, media reps, outdoor advertising, direct mail and other services related to advertising. Ad agencies account for the biggest portion—about 46%—of those jobs.
Ad agencies
U.S. ad agency employment in September reached an all-time high of 223,600 jobs.
Ad agencies added 400 jobs in September after gaining 500 jobs in August based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
BLS downwardly revised the August figure from a preliminary gain of 600 jobs it reported a month ago.
BLS reports ad agency employment on a one-month lag, so October figures aren’t yet available.
But October’s robust gain in ad, PR and related services staffing implies an increase in ad agency employment last month.
Internet media
Internet media employment fell to 360,200 jobs in September from an all-time high of 363,400 jobs in August.
U.S. internet media employment—the BLS classification of “internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals”—dropped by 3,200 jobs in September after gaining 7,100 jobs in August based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
BLS upwardly revised the August figure from a preliminary gain of 2,700 jobs it reported a month ago.
September marked the first monthly decline in internet media employment in 2022.
Prospects for digital media employment are weakening amid reports of staff reductions or a freeze in hiring at a range of tech companies. Twitter was preparing for layoffs today just a week after Elon Musk bought the company.
As with ad agencies, internet media staffing is reported with a one-month delay and is not seasonally adjusted.
Unemployment rate
The U.S. unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, rose to 3.7% in October from 3.5% in September.
The jobless rate in September was down to its level before the coronavirus pandemic (3.5% in February 2020), tied for the lowest level since 1969. Amid signs of a slowing economy, that likely will be this business cycle’s unemployment rate nadir.
The World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020.
In April 2020, unemployment reached 14.7%, the highest since before World War II.
U.S. employment
The nation in October added 261,000 jobs based on seasonally adjusted figures. That was a solid gain and above expectations, but it nevertheless was the weakest monthly figure since 2020.
That suggests a slight softening in the labor market amid economic headwinds—high inflation, rising interest rates, slowing housing market, slumping stock market, recession worries—and a spate of headlines about corporate layoffs.
The job growth came as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to try to cool the economy and break a cycle of high inflation.
The economy added 315,000 jobs in September (upwardly revised from 263,000) and 292,000 jobs in August (downwardly revised from 315,000).
Following an unprecedented loss of 20.5 million jobs in April 2020 as the nation locked down in the pandemic, the economy has added jobs every month except for December 2020.
Total U.S. employment (153.3 million jobs in October) has recovered all of its pandemic losses, topping its February 2020 pre-pandemic peak (152.5 million) to reach a new all-time high.
Ad Age Datacenter subscribers can see an expanded table showing advertising employment back to 2000 at AdAge.com/adjobs.
