Broadcast, Ad Hiring Tick Higher As April Jobs Report Beats Expectations.

The April jobs numbers were better than expected and the government data shows there was an uptick in the number of people working in broadcasting last month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports April employment in the sector was 335,800. That was a 1% increase from the prior month. On a year-over-year basis, total employment was down 2%. The segment includes not only radio and television broadcast companies, but also other content companies like cable TV. BLS doesn’t release radio-specific monthly figures.

In the other media-related sector, BLS data shows employment in publishing dipped 1.9% in April after a small dip in March. Total employment in that sector was 896,700 in April.

On a year-to-year comparison, the total employment figures were down by 8,500 jobs.

The number of people working in advertising and public relations is closely tied to how well media companies can expect to do in the coming months, and the government’s April data shows some positive momentum. BLS says the ad sector’s workforce increased 0.9% to 481,500 in April. That puts it nearly even with the 481,800 that worked in advertising and public relations a year earlier despite some big ad agencies announcing layoffs in recent months due to AI efficiencies.

April brought better-than-expected news on the overall U.S. job market. The government says nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 last month. That was above the 55,000 gain that analysts had been expecting. The result was the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, with 7.4 million Americans looking for work.

Revisions to earlier months offer mixed signals. BLS revised February’s growth rate down by 23,000 but revised March’s increase up by 7,000. The result is that with the revisions, employment in February and March combined is 16,000 lower than previously reported.

Kory Kantenga, Head of Economics at LinkedIn, says the latest data shows the labor market so far has withstood the sharp rise in energy prices, with “solid but skewed” job growth and steady unemployment.

“Though the labor market is holding up by topline measures, we still only see limited signs of momentum moving forward,” Kantenga says. “LinkedIn data point to a familiar pattern — hiring is slower but fewer people are leaving their jobs, supporting payroll growth. That balance has kept this low-momentum labor market stable.” In a post, he says higher energy prices could start to have a bite on the labor market in the months ahead.

BLS says the strongest gains in April occurred in health care, transportation and warehousing, and retail trade. Federal government employment continued to decline. Since reaching a peak in October 2024, federal government employment is down by 348,000, or 11.5%.

Like broadcast, employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 6 cents in April to $37.41. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.6%. And the average workweek for all employees was up slightly to 34.3 hours.