Internet-Media Employment Fuels Digital Job Growth

When it comes to jobs, internet-media businesses are the new mainstream media.

Internet media this year became the media industry's second-largest employment sector, according to Ad Age DataCenter's analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

One in six people employed in the U.S. media industry now work for internet-media businesses, according to Ad Age's analysis.

Employment at U.S. internet-media businesses in July passed staffing in broadcast TV. Internet-media employment earlier passed magazines, radio and cable TV.

The only U.S. media sector with more employees: newspapers. But papers over the past 12 months have cut an average of 1,400 jobs a month while internet-media businesses have added an average 400 jobs a month.

Employment at U.S. internet-media businesses has soared 54% from its pre-recession level. Meanwhile, overall U.S. media employment is 18% below where it stood before the 2007-2009 recession.

In the graphic below, Ad Age examines how media employment has changed over time.

Source: Ad Age DataCenter analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Digital job share is internet-media sector's share of U.S. media jobs. See Methodology for details about data in this graphic: AdAge.com/100media2012.