TED: The Economics Daily

For many people, attending note-worthy events like concerts or music festivals are the highlights of the summer. Here’s a look at employment in the industry that lets us know where to find this summer fun. Promoters of performing arts, sports, and similar events are the organizations that manage performing arts productions, sports competitions, and similar events including air shows, arts festivals, carnivals, fairs, horse shows, and rodeos.

Montana, at 5.3 percent, was among the states with the highest hires rates in April 2025, while Pennsylvania, at 2.1 percent, was among the lowest. California had the most hires (588,000) and Vermont had the least (11,000).

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending May 2025, after rising 2.3 percent over the same period in April.

The unemployment rate held at 4.2 percent in May 2025 and has remained in a narrow range of 4.0 percent to 4.2 percent since May 2024. Among the 170.5 million people in the U.S. labor force, 7.2 million were unemployed in May 2025. People are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work. People waiting to be recalled from a temporary layoff are also included as unemployed.