Need a job? One green shoot of the economic recovery is the hiring glut going on over at the R/GA digital advertising agency, with 230 jobs open. That’s on top of the 130 they’ve already hired this year. But I thought advertising was dead, or at least severely atrophied?

An R/GA source says that while blood was running through Wall Street last year, R/GA went on a pitch spree, winning all but one. And recently, clients who had pulled back their ad-spending had returned wanting to start back up again.

The perhaps counterintuitive facts on the ground are that a resurgence in the advertising industry can be good for consumers. Companies are willing to spend on drumming up new business. Increasing consumer demand would lead to increased production, which could lead to more employers hiring. That’s good news when unemployment is in the double digits.

The bad news is the pixie-dust sprayers are gearing up once again to separate you from your hard-earned cash. It’ll be slower going this time around, though, with so many credit card lines cut, and American’s new fondness of frugality will be hard to shake, not unless manufacturers are going to provide good products at fair prices. Whoddathunkit?

Job Openings [R/GA]

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