Graphic Arts Employment Down Slightly in August

Fortunately, we are still a little behind in our employment reporting, as recent government data is not forthcoming thanks to the shutdown. So, the last employment report we have is August numbers.

Throughout spring 2025, printing employment had been generally flat, but started to decline as we headed into summer. Net printing employment in August 2025 saw printing industry employment decline 0.3% from July—overall, production employment was down 0.9% and non-production employment up by 0.8%.

Publishing employment was Up 0.1% from July to August.

Looking at other business categories, the reporting of which lags a month:

Overall employment in the signage industry was down 1.5% from June to July 2025, with sign production employment up 2.0%, and non-production down 3.5%.

Converted paper products employment was down 3.9% from June to July, with paperboard container employment down 2.2% and paper bags and coated and treated paper employment also down 1.3%.

Looking at some specific publishing and creative segments, from June to July, periodical publishing employment was down 0.3%, while newspaper publishing employment was down 0.2% and book publishing was up 0.5%. Graphic design employment was down 0.8%, ad agency employment was up 1.2%, and PR agency employment was down 0.3%. Direct mail advertising employment was down 2.8%.

As for August employment in general, the BLS reported on September 5:

Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in August (+22,000) and has shown little change since April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported today. The unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, also changed little in August. A job gain in health care was partially offset by losses in federal government and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.

…The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised down by 27,000, from +14,000 to -13,000, and the change for July was revised up by 6,000, from +73,000 to +79,000. With these revisions, employment in June and July combined is 21,000 lower than previously reported.

The U-6 rate (the so-called “real” unemployment rate which includes not just those currently unemployed but also those who are underemployed, marginally attached to the workforce, and have given up looking for work) increased from 7.9% to 8.1%.

The labor force participation rate increased in August from 62.2% to 62.3% and the employment-to-population was unchanged at 59.6%. The labor force participation rate for 24–54-year-olds decreased from 83.4% to 83.7%.  

The August report was below economists’ expectations, and the downward revisions in June and July payrolls are concerning. The increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3% is also worrisome.

We have no idea when we’ll ever see another jobs report. The September jobs report supposedly exists but has not been released, and there are doubts that October employment numbers have even been collected.