Ad Industry Generates 15% of U.S. Jobs Post-Great Recession

  • October 14, 2010
The ad industry may have suffered its greatest dip since the Great Depression, but it also is proving to be one of the nation's greatest economic engines coming out of the Great Recession, according to a study released this morning at the Association of National Advertisers' annual conference in Orlando. The study, conducted by IHS Global Insight for The Advertising Coalition, finds that ad spending currently accounts for $5.8 trillion of the $29.6 trillion in U.S. economic output (20 percent), and 19.8 million of the nation's 133.4 million jobs (15 percent). The analysis also reveals that U.S. businesses currently spend $279 billion on advertising, and that each of those dollars, on average, generates $20 in economic output. Moreover, for every $1 million spent on advertising, 69 American jobs are created.

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1 comment about "Ad Industry Generates 15% of U.S. Jobs Post-Great Recession".
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  1. John Grono from GAP Research, October 15, 2010 at 8:24 p.m.

    Does the claim of 69 jobs per $1m of adspend ring right?

    Nielsen put the 2009 US adspend at $117b. That would equate to just over 8 million jobs due to adspend. In a working population of around 154 million (DOL), doesn't that mean a little over 1-in-20 jobs are directly attributable to advertising? That just seems a bit on the high side - any thoughts?

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