Broadcast Employment Climbs In June Despite Slower Overall Job Growth.

There was a relatively large month-to-month increase in the number of people working in broadcasting and content creation in June. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the sector added 1,400 jobs last month to bring the total number of people working to 336,900. That remains 1,000 below what it reported for April, suggesting a pullback in May wasn’t as large as first thought. The government doesn’t release radio-specific monthly employment figures.

In the other media-related sector, BLS data shows employment in publishing dipped slightly in June. It totaled 900,100, down 0.7% on a month-over-month basis.

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 June data shows those numbers were weaker in June. BLS says the ad sector’s workforce decreased 1.2%. That puts it at 479,500 — down about 4,000 jobs from a year earlier.

The government says hiring overall continued in June, albeit at a slower pace than in prior months. BLS says total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 57,000 in June, which was roughly half of what analysts had been expecting. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2%, driven by fewer layoffs and fewer people quitting their jobs.

Revisions to earlier months show hiring levels in April were revised downward by 31,000, and May was revised downward by 43,000. With these revisions, employment in April and May combined is 74,000 less than previously reported.

BLS says the strongest gains in June occurred in professional and business services, social assistance, and health care. Leisure and hospitality lost jobs.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 13 cents in June to $37.64. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased 3.5%. The average workweek for all employees remained at 34.3 hours.

Kory Kantenga, Head of Economics at LinkedIn, says the latest numbers don’t point to a labor market that is heating up. “Instead, it suggests a market that’s finding a more stable pace heading into the summer,” he writes in a post. Kantenga says the numbers are broadly consistent with LinkedIn’s data, where hiring is tracking near January’s rate.