US ad employment gained 2,900 jobs in August, strongest growth in a year

Employment in advertising, public relations and related services surged by 2,900 jobs in August, scoring the strongest gain in a year even as the nation’s overall employment picture became cloudier on the eve of Labor Day.

Ad agency employment reached an all-time high.

Job growth for the overall economy has moderated in recent months, according to the monthly employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

August marked 32 consecutive months of job increases, but gains in the past three months were the lowest monthly employment increases since that winning streak began in January 2021. The nation added 187,000 jobs in August. 

The unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, jumped to 3.8% in August from 3.5% in July, marking the highest jobless rate since early 2022.

Below, Ad Age Datacenter breaks down the report—by the numbers.

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 500,900 jobs in August based on seasonally adjusted figures. 

That puts ad employment at its highest level since March 2001. That was back in the dot-com bubble, when startup internet firms shoveled money into advertising using a windfall of cash from venture capital and initial public offerings. The earlier date is noteworthy: It marked the peak of the business cycle and first month of a recession.

The ad market added 2,900 jobs in August, the biggest gain since last summer and a marked improvement from July’s weak increase of 700 jobs.

BLS downwardly revised the July figure from a gain of 1,000 jobs reported a month ago. It upwardly revised the June figure to a gain of 2,400 jobs, vs. the 1,300 jobs increase 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 47%—of those jobs.

Ad employment weakened last fall, dropping in three of four months from September through December. But the ad business found new momentum this year, with staffing increases every month this year except for March. 

These ad employment gains came despite cutbacks this year at media companies and ad-centric tech firms.

Employment in the broad BLS classification of media streaming distribution services, social networks and other media networks and content providers edged up to 232,800 jobs in July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. That was a modest increase of 200 jobs from June, when staffing slumped to its lowest level since 2018.

Staffing in the classification of web search portals and all other information services increased by 1,700 jobs to 162,200 jobs in July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Even with that gain, staffing remains far below its all-time high of 171,900 jobs last January.

Ad agencies

U.S. ad agency employment jumped to 234,200 jobs in July, up 1,600 jobs for the month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, reaching an all-time high. That followed a gain of 2,800 jobs in June.

BLS upwardly revised the June figure from a preliminary gain of 1,900 jobs reported a month ago.

BLS reports ad agency employment on a one-month lag, so August figures aren’t yet available. But the robust August increase in advertising, public relations and related services employment suggests that ad agency staffing rose last month.

Unemployment rate

The U.S. unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, climbed to 3.8% in August from 3.5% in July.

That’s the highest jobless rate since early 2022. To be sure, 3.8% is still a comparatively low unemployment rate based on labor stats from the past 75 years.

U.S. employment

The nation in August added 187,000 jobs based on seasonally adjusted figures.
 
BLS said the economy gained 157,000 jobs in July (downwardly revised from 187,000 jobs reported a month ago).

BLS said 105,000 jobs were added in June (a sharp downward revision from 185,000 jobs reported a month ago and the 209,000 jobs increase initially announced two months ago).

BLS monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from recalculation of seasonal factors.

Following an unprecedented loss of 20.5 million jobs in April 2020 as the nation locked down in the coronavirus pandemic, the economy has added jobs every month except for December 2020.

Total U.S. employment (156.4 million jobs in August) has recovered all of its pandemic losses, topping its February 2020 pre-pandemic peak (152.4 million) to reach a new all-time high.

The World Health Organization in January 2020 declared the coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency and in March 2020 classified COVID-19 as a pandemic. The group’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in May 2023 determined that “COVID-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

Ad Age Datacenter subscribers can see an expanded table showing advertising employment back to 2000 at AdAge.com/adjobs.