Double Strike Hits Hollywood: 17,000 Jobs Vanish in August
The ripple effects of the unprecedented double strike orchestrated by the Writers’ Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA reverberate through the U.S. labor market.
In the recently released August employment report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the motion picture and sound recording industries witnessed a significant drop to 437,600 jobs, marking a substantial loss of 16,800 positions, a direct result of the ongoing strike action.
Additionally, the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors and content providers collectively shed 3,600 jobs, leaving their totals at 637,700 and 348,800, respectively. On a brighter note, the publishing industries buckled the trend by adding 4,100 jobs, bringing their total to 933,400.
The WGA strike commenced on May 2, followed by the SAG-AFTRA strike on July 14, intensifying the industry-wide disruption.
