Economists have been asking whether AI is starting to take white-collar jobs. But the latest numbers out this week point the other way.
Employers in professional and business services, the part of the economy that includes lawyers, accountants and consultants, added 70,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s the biggest gain in several years.
“Despite the effects of AI on the job market, some white-collar industries are still adding jobs at a solid clip,” said Bill Adams, chief U.S. economist at Fifth Third Commercial Bank.
The picture remains murky, though. The sector also counts lower-paid workers like temps, janitors and security guards. Consulting firms added about 17,000 jobs, and temp agencies added about 19,000.
Some office work is shrinking. Firms that design computer systems for other businesses employ about 26,000 fewer people than they did a year ago. Much of that is outsourced programming, Adams said, where companies “can do the same work with fewer people in many cases because of AI.”
And the bump last month could be “a head fake” caused by the election, as campaigns poured money into consultants, ads and temp workers, said Brian Bethune, an economist at Boston College. He expects agencies to shed about 20,000 jobs in November as that work dries up.
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