US jobs (BLS)

US payroll employment per month from the BLS Current Employment Statistics since 2015: the AI-exposed industries (call centres, clerical work, graphic design, news publishing), the software and IT-services industries, sector baselines and controls, and a derived share — plus the job openings, hiring, quit and layoff rates from the companion JOLTS survey, which count who moved in and out of those jobs.

The BLS counts each job by the industry of the employer, not by the work the person does. A designer at a bank counts as a bank job. Every chart here shows an industry, and it only stands in for an occupation.

cadence · monthly 27 series updated 10 Aug 2026 www.bls.gov/ces/ ↗

release markers

Total nonfarm (all jobs)

159M +0.2% yr as of Jul 2026

AI-exposed industries

We group these industries because people expect AI to cut jobs in them. That expectation is a guess, not a result. Two of these industries are flat or still grow.

Call centres & telemarketing

278k −5.5% yr as of Jun 2026

Telephone call centres (all)

310k −5.6% yr as of Jun 2026

This industry already contains every job in the “Call centres & telemarketing” chart. The two charts are a wide and a narrow view of the same workers — never sum them.

Document preparation (data entry)

29.5k −15.5% yr as of Jun 2026

Graphic design services

51.9k +1.4% yr as of Jun 2026

Newspaper, book & periodical publishers

237k −6.7% yr as of Jun 2026

Web portals & other information services

183k +1.1% yr as of Jul 2026

This industry holds search portals, libraries and archives together. The BLS does not count them apart.

Advertising & public relations

476k −1.6% yr as of Jul 2026

Most of these jobs are in media buying and account management. Few of these people write copy, which is the part AI can do.

Software & IT services

Computer systems design & services

2.4M −1.2% yr as of Jul 2026

This industry already contains every job in the “Custom computer programming” and “Computer systems design” charts. All three count the same workers at different widths — never sum them.

Custom computer programming

1.1M −0.4% yr as of Jun 2026

Computer systems design

1.1M −2.3% yr as of Jun 2026

Software publishers

660k +1.1% yr as of Jun 2026

Data centres, hosting & data processing

464k −3.4% yr as of Jul 2026

A new data centre costs a lot of money but adds few jobs. These jobs therefore follow the money spent on data centres only loosely.

Baselines & controls

These lines are controls, not AI signals. They show the wider sectors and the business cycle. Compare every other chart on this page with them before you blame AI.

Total private

136M +0.5% yr as of Jul 2026

Professional & business services

22.5M +0.5% yr as of Jul 2026

Professional, scientific & technical

10.8M +0.6% yr as of Jul 2026

Administrative & support services

8.5M +0.5% yr as of Jul 2026

Information sector

2.8M −2.8% yr as of Jul 2026

Employment services (staffing)

3.2M +0.7% yr as of Jul 2026

⚠ This line is a control. In every recession, staffing companies lose jobs before other companies do. Check the business cycle first.

Temporary help services

2.5M +0.4% yr as of Jul 2026

Derived

AI-exposed industries, share of all jobs derived

0.8% of all jobs −3.7% yr as of Jun 2026

Six of the seven AI-exposed industries, divided by all US jobs. We leave out “Call centres & telemarketing”, which already sits inside “Telephone call centres (all)”, so no job counts twice. ⚠ This share fell steadily from 2015, long before generative AI.

Job openings, hiring & layoffs (JOLTS)

These charts count moves into and out of jobs each month, not the number of jobs. ⚠ Compare each one with 2015–2019, not with the tight job market of 2021 and 2022.

Layoff rate — Information

2% +42.9% yr as of Jun 2026

Information holds publishers, broadcasters, telecom and web firms. It is not a count of technology jobs. Read it against the “Layoff rate — all private employers” chart.

Layoff rate — Professional & business services

2.2% −15.4% yr as of Jun 2026

Layoff rate — all private employers

1.2% −7.7% yr as of Jun 2026

⚠ This line is a control. It counts every private employer in the US. Compare each sector chart with it before you blame AI.

Job-openings rate — Information

3.1% −24.4% yr as of Jun 2026

Information holds publishers, broadcasters, telecom and web firms. It is not a count of technology jobs. The line jumps each month, so read the change across years.

Hiring rate — all private employers

3.7% 0.0% yr as of Jun 2026

Quit rate — all private employers

2.2% −4.3% yr as of Jun 2026

Figures

Series	Latest	Change	Min	Max	Coverage
Call centres & telemarketing	278k	−5.5% yr	276k	505k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Telephone call centres (all)	310k	−5.6% yr	308k	542k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Document preparation (data entry)	29.5k	−15.5% yr	29.5k	49.3k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Graphic design services	51.9k	+1.4% yr	50.1k	65.0k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Newspaper, book & periodical publishers	237k	−6.7% yr	237k	438k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Web portals & other information services	183k	+1.1% yr	121k	192k	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Advertising & public relations	476k	−1.6% yr	433k	503k	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Computer systems design & services	2.4M	−1.2% yr	1.9M	2.5M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Custom computer programming	1.1M	−0.4% yr	806k	1.1M	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Computer systems design	1.1M	−2.3% yr	890k	1.2M	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Software publishers	660k	+1.1% yr	326k	664k	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Data centres, hosting & data processing	464k	−3.4% yr	291k	489k	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Total nonfarm (all jobs)	159M	+0.2% yr	130M	159M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Total private	136M	+0.5% yr	109M	136M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Professional & business services	22.5M	+0.5% yr	19.2M	22.9M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Professional, scientific & technical	10.8M	+0.6% yr	8.5M	10.8M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Administrative & support services	8.5M	+0.5% yr	7.2M	9.1M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Information sector	2.8M	−2.8% yr	2.6M	3.1M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Employment services (staffing)	3.2M	+0.7% yr	2.5M	3.9M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
Temporary help services	2.5M	+0.4% yr	2.0M	3.2M	Jan 2015 — Jul 2026
AI-exposed industries, share of all jobs	0.8%	−3.7% yr	0.8%	1.2%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Layoff rate — Information	2%	+42.9% yr	0.4%	6.6%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Layoff rate — Professional & business services	2.2%	−15.4% yr	1.2%	6.4%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Layoff rate — all private employers	1.2%	−7.7% yr	1%	10%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Job-openings rate — Information	3.1%	−24.4% yr	2.4%	8.3%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Hiring rate — all private employers	3.7%	0.0% yr	3.4%	7.1%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026
Quit rate — all private employers	2.2%	−4.3% yr	1.7%	3.3%	Jan 2015 — Jun 2026

← back to all sources