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Current Employment Statistics (CES7071000001) · Arts, entertainment, recreation, seasonally adjusted

How many jobs are there in arts, entertainment, and recreation?

The number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation was 2,659 thousand in the month ended , down 1.6% from a year earlier (preliminary).

Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1990 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1990 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1990 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1990 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands2,659 thousand2,657 thousand2,702 thousand2,098 thousand2,268 thousand
Change over a year−1.6%−1.7%+3.1%+22.9%+3.4%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation was 2,659 thousand in September 2026, the highest since July 2026.

Over a year it is down 1.6% (ours). The source marks this value preliminary.

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month2,657 thousand in +0.1%
Three months2,666 thousand in −0.2%
Twelve months2,702 thousand in −1.6%
Five years2,098 thousand in +26.8%
Ten years2,268 thousand in +17.2%

In historyOurs

The number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation of 2,659 thousand in was higher than in 422 of the 440 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 18.

Highest since : 2,702 thousand in . Lowest since : 1,115 thousand in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 1,911.8 thousand (ours, a plain mean of the 441 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation is down 1.6%, which ranks 33 of the 35 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Inside itOurs

Of the 3 industries inside arts, entertainment, recreation that BLS reports, the change over a year was largest for museums, historical sites, and similar institutions, up 1.3%, and smallest for performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries, down 2.2% (ours).

See every industry inside it

Openings and turnoverJob Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

In August 2026 the survey counted, for arts, entertainment, and recreation, 116 thousand job openings, 155 thousand hires, 61 thousand quits and 83 thousand layoffs and discharges.

Over a year the counts are job openings up 7.4%, hires down 5.5%, quits up 117.9% and layoffs and discharges down 25.9% (ours).

Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in arts, entertainment, and recreation

August 2016 to August 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, one row for each measure
  • Job openings11650 to 225
  • Hires15531 to 247
  • Quits611 to 98
  • Layoffs and discharges8337 to 613

Each row is one measure of the second survey for arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands over the last ten years, one month to a point, on one scale, with its newest value and its range printed beside it. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

See every measure with its change and record

Understanding the number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation

Where it stands today

The number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation was 2,659 thousand in September 2026.

What does the number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation measure?

Arts, entertainment, and recreation covers performing arts companies, spectator sports, museums and historical sites, amusement and theme parks, casinos and gambling, golf courses, and fitness and recreation centers.

Read more

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts these jobs each month in a survey of employers, the Current Employment Statistics, and publishes them in the Employment Situation report at the start of the next month. The count is all employees on payrolls, in thousands, seasonally adjusted.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the lines of the jobs by industry page, the industries inside it with their own change over a year. For this industry it also shows the job openings, hires, quits and layoffs from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a second BLS survey, beside the count of jobs.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the number of jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1990
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Thousands of jobs; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
2,659 thousand−1.6%
2,657 thousand−1.7%
2,660 thousand−1.3%
2,666 thousand−0.9%
2,690 thousand+0.4%
2,688 thousand+0.7%
2,687 thousand+0.7%
2,686 thousand+1.0%
2,669 thousand+0.6%
2,680 thousand+1.0%
2,665 thousand+0.7%
2,698 thousand+2.5%
2,702 thousand+3.1%
2,701 thousand+2.7%
2,696 thousand+2.7%
2,689 thousand+2.8%
2,681 thousand+2.7%
2,668 thousand+2.4%
2,670 thousand+2.4%
2,660 thousand+2.8%
2,652 thousand+2.5%
2,652 thousand+3.2%
2,647 thousand+3.6%
2,631 thousand+2.9%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
2,619 thousand+4.3%
2,631 thousand+4.2%
2,624 thousand+4.2%
2,617 thousand+4.0%
2,612 thousand+4.3%
2,606 thousand+4.5%
2,606 thousand+6.0%
2,589 thousand+5.7%
2,589 thousand+6.8%
2,569 thousand+6.1%
2,555 thousand+7.4%
2,556 thousand+7.4%
2,510 thousand+6.4%
2,526 thousand+8.1%
2,519 thousand+8.2%
2,517 thousand+9.6%
2,503 thousand+9.0%
2,494 thousand+9.1%
2,458 thousand+9.3%
2,450 thousand+9.9%
2,423 thousand+10.0%
2,422 thousand+10.1%
2,378 thousand+9.7%
2,379 thousand+11.4%
2,359 thousand+12.4%
2,337 thousand+13.6%
2,328 thousand+15.8%
2,297 thousand+17.8%
2,297 thousand+19.3%
2,286 thousand+21.2%
2,248 thousand+24.1%
2,229 thousand+25.8%
2,202 thousand+26.6%
2,200 thousand+26.6%
2,167 thousand+21.3%
2,136 thousand+22.2%
2,098 thousand+22.9%
2,057 thousand+32.7%
2,010 thousand+31.6%
1,949 thousand+37.3%
1,925 thousand+61.9%
1,886 thousand+56.9%
1,812 thousand−25.0%
1,772 thousand−29.0%
1,739 thousand−30.2%
1,738 thousand−29.6%
1,787 thousand−27.3%
1,748 thousand−28.6%
1,707 thousand−30.4%
1,551 thousand−36.6%
1,527 thousand−37.4%
1,420 thousand−41.8%
1,189 thousand−51.2%
1,202 thousand−50.5%
2,417 thousand−0.5%
2,496 thousand+3.1%
2,493 thousand+3.0%
2,469 thousand+3.1%
2,459 thousand+2.7%
2,447 thousand+1.6%
2,452 thousand+2.7%
2,446 thousand+1.8%
2,439 thousand+1.9%
2,441 thousand+2.0%
2,435 thousand+2.6%
2,429 thousand+3.0%
2,431 thousand+2.5%
2,421 thousand+2.4%
2,420 thousand+2.4%
2,394 thousand+1.7%
2,394 thousand+1.8%
2,410 thousand+2.3%
2,388 thousand+1.6%
2,402 thousand+1.5%
2,393 thousand+1.7%
2,393 thousand+1.6%
2,374 thousand+1.8%
2,358 thousand+1.9%
2,371 thousand+3.6%
2,364 thousand+3.0%
2,364 thousand+3.4%
2,353 thousand+3.0%
2,352 thousand+2.6%
2,356 thousand+3.7%
2,351 thousand+3.7%
2,365 thousand+4.0%
2,354 thousand+3.7%
2,355 thousand+4.5%
2,333 thousand+4.6%
2,315 thousand+3.6%
2,287 thousand+2.8%
2,295 thousand+4.0%
2,287 thousand+4.4%
2,284 thousand+4.1%
2,293 thousand+4.3%
2,272 thousand+4.1%
How does it compare with the industries on the jobs by industry page?Ranked by the change over a year
Jobs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, in thousands beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Health care and social assistance23,959 thousand+2.2%1
Private education and health28,005 thousand+1.9%2
Utilities612 thousand+1.7%3
Construction8,364 thousand+1.3%4
Durable goods7,898 thousand+1.1%5
Professional, scientific, technical10,844 thousand+0.8%6
Accommodation and food services14,310 thousand+0.7%7
Goods-producing21,623 thousand+0.7%7
Other services6,039 thousand+0.6%9
Professional and business services22,482 thousand+0.6%9
Administrative, support, waste9,019 thousand+0.5%11
Private service-providing114,094 thousand+0.5%11
Total private135,717 thousand+0.5%11
Leisure and hospitality16,969 thousand+0.4%14
Wholesale trade6,078 thousand+0.4%14
Local government15,173 thousand+0.3%16
Manufacturing12,652 thousand+0.3%16
Mining and logging607 thousand+0.3%16
Service-providing137,421 thousand+0.3%16
Total nonfarm159,044 thousand+0.3%16
Retail trade15,480 thousand+0.2%21
Trade, transportation, utilities28,778 thousand+0.2%21
Mining, oil and gas extraction567 thousand+0.1%23
Private education4,046 thousand−0.1%24
Transportation and warehousing6,609 thousand−0.1%24
Management of companies2,620 thousand−0.3%26
State government5,472 thousand−0.5%27
Real estate, rental, leasing2,438 thousand−0.6%28
Government23,327 thousand−0.9%29
Nondurable goods4,754 thousand−0.9%29
Financial activities9,082 thousand−1.2%31
Finance and insurance6,645 thousand−1.4%32
Arts, entertainment, recreation2,659 thousand−1.6%33
Information2,739 thousand−4.2%34
Federal government2,682 thousand−8.0%35

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Which industries are inside arts, entertainment, recreation?Newest month of each industry
The industries inside arts, entertainment, recreation, newest month of each: the count in thousands, its share of the page's industry and the change over a year (both ours); equal changes share a rank
IndustryMonthCountShareChange over a yearRank
Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries596 thousand22.4%−2.2%3
Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions183 thousand6.9%+1.3%1
Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries1,880 thousand70.7%−1.7%2

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

How many job openings, hires, quits and layoffs were there in arts, entertainment, and recreation?Newest month of each measure
Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in arts, entertainment, and recreation, newest month of each measure, seasonally adjusted (Thousands (job openings at the end of the month; hires, quits and layoffs during it); rates in percent; the change over a year ours)
MeasureMonthCountRateChange over a yearWhere the count stands
Job openings116 thousand4.2%+7.4%the highest since June 2026
Hires155 thousand5.9%−5.5%the highest since April 2026
Quits61 thousand2.3%+117.9%the lowest since March 2026
Layoffs and discharges83 thousand3.1%−25.9%the highest since June 2026

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • BLS counts jobs, not people: a person with two jobs on two payrolls is counted twice. Farm jobs, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers and members of the military are not counted.
  • The count comes from a survey of employers, so each month's value carries sampling error. BLS revises each month twice in the two months after it is first published, and each February it benchmarks the series to a full count of jobs from unemployment insurance tax records and revises earlier values, so past values on this page can change.
  • BLS publishes this series from 1990.
  • The job openings, hires, quits and layoffs come from JOLTS, a separate survey of employers that BLS holds from December 2000 and publishes about a month after the payroll counts, so its newest month can be an earlier month than the count of jobs.
  • The count is shown in whole thousands, but BLS publishes this series to one decimal, so the changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values, which are ours and worked out from the values as BLS publishes them, can differ in their last place from those worked out from the values as shown.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percent.

Observed . Checked .

Observed .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, Arts, entertainment, recreation, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026, with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, through August 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How many jobs are there in arts, entertainment, and recreation?", https://500metrics.com/jobs-by-industry/arts-entertainment-recreation.

Can the data be downloaded?jobs-by-industry-arts-entertainment-recreation.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 441 rows, to , 8,454 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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