Employment in advertising, public relations and related services increased by 1,200 jobs in July, a comparatively small gain following a big jump in June.

The relatively modest ad jobs growth came as U.S. employers in July added 943,000 jobs, the biggest gain since last August, according to the monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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

U.S. employment in the BLS classification of advertising, public relations and related services rose to 446,400 jobs in July, marking the sixth month of growth since ad jobs hit a pandemic period low of 432,100 in January.

The July increase in advertising employment came in far below June’s gain of 4,800 ad jobs. (BLS downwardly revised the June figure from the preliminary 9,700 jobs gain it reported a month ago. So the news from a month ago—that the June ad jobs gain was the biggest monthly increase on record—no longer holds true.)

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 43%—of jobs in that BLS bucket.

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U.S. ad agencies added 2,500  jobs in June, a solid showing following a gain of 900 jobs in May. Ad agency employment—192,200—is at its highest point since March 2020, the early days of the pandemic. 

BLS reports ad agency employment on a one-month lag, so July figures aren’t yet available. But July’s advertising, public relations and related services staffing increase suggests a small gain in ad agency employment last month.

Agencies are watching staffing levels closely. Even before the COVID-induced recession began in February 2020, ad agency employment had trended downward from the record high of 208,800 jobs reached in 2018. (The recession officially ended in April 2020.)

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Agency job cuts before and during the coronavirus pandemic aren’t a surprise. Labor is the biggest cost for agencies, and the agency business was grappling with sluggish growth even before the recession.

U.S. ad agency employment tends to peak earlier than the overall U.S. job market in the waning days of a business cycle’s economic expansion before a recession. On the flip side, agencies generally are cautious about adding employees as the economy recovers, resulting in a lag in staffing growth.

U.S. internet media employment in June rose by 3,200 jobs, reaching an all-time high of 309,500 jobs.

As with ad agencies, internet media staffing is reported with a one-month delay.

Digital media firms prospered during the pandemic, and that has translated into solid job growth. U.S. staffing at internet media businesses rebounded quickly from a brief dip in the early stages of the pandemic last spring.

The nation in July added 943,000 jobs, beating economists’ expectations. The economy added an upwardly revised 938,000 jobs in June and an upwardly revised 614,000 jobs in May.

Following an unprecedented loss of 20.7 million jobs in April 2020 as the nation locked down, the economy has added jobs every month except for December. But the total U.S. nonfarm payroll is still 5.7 million jobs below its February 2020 all-time high.

The U.S. unemployment rate, based on a separate survey of households, fell to 5.4% in July from 5.9% in June.

The unemployment rate in February 2020 stood at 3.5%. In April 2020, it reached 14.8%, the highest level since before World War II.

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