U.S. ad agency staffing has reached another record high, but advertising employment growth slowed markedly in April as the ad business added just 500 jobs.
The slim ad jobs increase came as U.S. employers last month added 428,000 jobs, according to the monthly employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate held at 3.6%.
Below, Ad Age Datacenter breaks down the report—by the numbers.
Datacenter
Ad agency employment is at an all-time high—but job growth may be slowing
U.S. ad business gained only 500 jobs in April, a marked deceleration in employment growth
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 474,900 jobs in April based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
The April gain of 500 ad jobs followed an increase of 3,800 jobs in March.
Setting aside an ad jobs decline in January (ad employment typically falls at the start of the year on a not seasonally adjusted basis), April marked the weakest monthly advertising jobs growth in a year.
BLS upwardly revised the March figure from a preliminary gain of 3,200 jobs it reported a month ago.
This BLS 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 45%—of jobs in that BLS bucket.
Ad, PR and related services employment stood at 484,400 on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020. Ad employment hit a pandemic nadir of 430,800 in January 2021.
Ad agencies
U.S. ad agency employment reached a record 214,800 jobs in March, topping the previous record set in February.
Ad agencies expanded staffing by 1,400 jobs in March, matching February’s 1,400 jobs increase based on figures that are not seasonally adjusted.
BLS reports ad agency employment on a one-month lag, so April figures aren’t yet available.
But the tepid growth in April advertising, public relations and related services staffing suggests limited gains at best for ad agencies last month.
Internet media
U.S. internet media employment—the BLS classification of “internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals”—increased by 6,400 jobs in March (the strongest growth since June 2020) after rising by 800 jobs in February.
BLS upwardly revised the February figure from a preliminary gain of 600 jobs it reported a month ago.
Internet media employment stood at 331,200 jobs in March, an all-time high.
As with ad agencies, internet media staffing is reported with a one-month delay and is not seasonally adjusted.
Check out The Big List, Ad Age Datacenter’s definitive rankings of advertisers and agencies.
U.S. employment
The nation in April added 428,000 jobs based on seasonally adjusted figures, topping economists’ predictions.
The healthy jobs gain shows employers continued to hire last month even as inflation, rising interest rates and a slumping stock market suggest a cloudy outlook for the economy.
Employment grew by a downwardly revised 428,000 jobs in March and a downwardly revised 714,000 jobs in February.
Following an unprecedented loss of 20.5 million jobs in April 2020 as the nation locked down, the economy has added jobs every month except for December 2020.
The World Health Organization classified COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020.
The total U.S. nonfarm payroll is still 1.2 million jobs below its February 2020 all-time high. If the pace of recent monthly job gains continues, total U.S. employment will recover all of its pandemic losses and score a new record in July.
Unemployment rate
The U.S. unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, was unchanged at 3.6% in April, holding just above its pre-pandemic level.
The unemployment rate was 3.5% in February 2020, tied for the lowest level since 1969. In April 2020, it reached 14.7%, the highest since before World War II.
Ad Age Datacenter subscribers can see an expanded table showing advertising employment back to 2000 at AdAge.com/adjobs. The table incorporates data revisions back to 2017 that BLS made in February 2022 in its annual benchmarking process and updating of seasonal adjustment factors.
