Employment in advertising, public relations and related services fell by 1,200 jobs in August, the sixth monthly drop in the past seven months, according to the monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall U.S. employment grew by a weaker-than-expected 142,000 jobs, the latest sign of a laboring job market amid agitation about a slowing economy. 

The unemployment rate dropped a tick to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in July.

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, PR and related services slipped to 520,500 jobs in August based on seasonally adjusted figures.
 
The ad market lost 1,200 jobs in August following a drop of 600 jobs in July.
 
BLS revised the July figure from a decline of 500 jobs reported a month ago.

The ad business lost jobs in six of the past seven months, with declines every month except for April. Ad employment now is essentially back to January’s level (520,400 jobs).

Ad employment reached an all-time high of 523,800 jobs in April. U.S. advertising employment is now 3,300 jobs below that peak. 
 
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 increased by 500 jobs in July, rising to an all-time high of 238,800 jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

The July increase followed a gain of 1,000 ad agency jobs in June. 

BLS downwardly revised the June figure from a preliminary gain of 1,100 jobs reported a month ago.

Ad agency employment has fluctuated this year, falling in January, March and May and increasing in February, April, June and July.

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

Media

The unsettled state of ad employment comes amid cutbacks at some media companies and ad-centric tech firms.

U.S. employment in the broad BLS classification of media streaming distribution services, social networks and other media networks and content providers fell to 219,000 jobs in July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, down by 700 jobs from June. Employment in that sector is at its lowest point since 2016.

Employment in the classification of web search portals and all other information services totaled 148,300 jobs in July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, down by 1,500 jobs for the month. Staffing is far below the all-time high of 162,100 jobs reached in late 2022.

Unemployment rate

The U.S. unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, ticked down to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in July.

The jobless rate had stayed within a range of 3.4% to 4.1% every month from November 2021 through June 2024, a stretch of unusually low unemployment not seen since the 1960s. 

The unemployment rate held within a range of 3.4% to 4.1% from November 1965 through January 1970. A recession began in December 1969, followed by a period of sharp increases in unemployment. At the end of 1970, the unemployment rate stood at 6.1%.

The dot-com bubble era—when internet startups shoveled money into advertising using a cash windfall from venture capital and initial public offerings—offers a more worrisome comparison given recent signs of softness in parts of today’s internet-powered economy.

The unemployment rate hit a low in 2000 of 3.8% as an internet frenzy fueled the economy, the stock market and the advertising market. The bubble burst, and a recession began in March 2001, the same month the unemployment rate rose to 4.3%. At the end of 2001, the jobless rate was 5.7%.

U.S. employment

The nation in August added 142,000 jobs based on seasonally adjusted figures, coming in below economists’ predictions.

BLS said 89,000 jobs were added in July, the weakest monthly figure since 2020. That was a downward revision from the 114,000 jobs reported a month ago.

BLS said the economy gained 118,000 jobs in June, a sharp downward revision from the 179,000 jobs reported a month ago. 

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

Over the past six months, the average monthly increase was 164,000 jobs. Growth over the past three months averaged 116,000 jobs, down from 211,000 jobs in the previous three months.

The labor market is cooling, but August’s increase still marked 44 consecutive months of job gains, an uninterrupted winning streak that began in January 2021.

Ad Age All Access subscribers can download a spreadsheet showing advertising employment back to 2000 at AdAge.com/adjobs.

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