Last month, when I visited my favorite soup restaurant, I noticed a "Now Hiring" sign posted next to the register again. In the same week, a colleague working at an IT company called to say that half of his team had been laid off.

On one side, there's a struggle to find workers, while on the other, people are being let go. I wondered if this was just my experience, so I took a look at the August employment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on September 4.

To cut to the chase, my observations were reflected in the statistics. This article will delve into those numbers.

According to the initial report, non-farm jobs increased by 162,000 in August. Given that the average increase over the previous 12 months was 31,000, this is quite a significant number.

The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%. The average hourly wage was $37.75, which is a 3.1% increase from a year ago.

However, when we break it down by sector, the picture changes dramatically. This is where the real discussion begins.

In restaurants and bars, specifically in food services and drinking places, there was an increase of 59,000 jobs. The average increase over the past year was 12,000 per month, so this is nearly five times that amount.

I was a bit surprised by the numbers. Overall, the leisure and hospitality sector saw an increase of 62,000 jobs, with restaurants driving that growth.

Conversely, the information sector saw a decrease of 23,000 jobs. This sector had already been losing an average of 8,000 jobs per month over the past year, but the rate of decline has nearly tripled.

Looking at the details, jobs in computing infrastructure, data processing, and web hosting decreased by 8,000. Publishing lost 7,000 jobs, and broadcasting and content saw a drop of 5,000.

Some economists link this to the introduction of AI. However, it's important to note that this is an interpretation, and the BLS has not officially stated the cause.

The healthcare sector, which had been a major contributor to job growth, only saw an increase of 13,000 jobs this time. The average increase over the past year was 32,000, so it's clear that this sector is taking a breather.

If it had ended there, it would have been neat, but on October 2, the September report was released, and the numbers changed. The August increase was revised down from 162,000 to 133,000.

July was flipped from an increase of 21,000 to a decrease of 10,000. In September, new jobs totaled only 29,000, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%.

The information sector lost another 10,000 jobs in September. While the headline numbers fluctuate, this trend remains quite consistent.

So, the message I'm getting is this: jobs that require direct human involvement are still seeking workers, while jobs that can be done behind a screen are seeing a reduced need for people.

Honestly, as someone from an older generation, it feels a bit strange. I grew up hearing that learning computers would set you for life, but now it seems that the hands that cook soup are receiving more recognition.

That said, I'm not suggesting that restaurant jobs are easy. In Georgia, the actual minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which is the federal standard.

Employees who receive tips can have their cash wage reduced to as low as $2.13 per hour. However, if tips do not bring their total to $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.

Georgia does not have a separate state overtime law. Therefore, any hours worked over 40 in a week are subject to the federal standard of 1.5 times the regular rate.

If you're considering moving into the restaurant industry or if you're an employer looking to hire, you need to be aware of these two points. Especially regarding the tip calculation method, it's best to clarify this in writing from the start for everyone's convenience.

For those in IT, let me be more direct. This is not a time to just endure; it's a time to assess how connected your work is to the outside world.

Jobs that require direct interaction with customers, those tied to on-site equipment, and roles that involve coordinating between people are still relatively stable. Even within IT, where you stand makes a difference.

There's a reason I went into detail about the downward revisions. Judging the economy as good or bad based solely on the initial numbers can leave you feeling awkward a month later.

I also thought things were improving after seeing the August report, only to be caught off guard in October. So nowadays, I look at trends by sector over a three-month period rather than just the headlines.

If you're considering a job change or starting a business, I recommend checking out the sector tables in the Employment Situation report on the BLS website. It's in English, but you can get a good sense of the trends just by looking at the tables.

I wouldn't tell you to leave IT right away. Instead, I would spend time developing a skill that AI would find difficult to replace.

The words of the soup restaurant owner keep coming back to me: these days, people are valuable, but not just any person is valuable.

Employment data ultimately compiles the activities happening at our local registers and in company conference rooms into numbers. When the next report comes out, I'll take another look and summarize it again.