Skift Take
U.S. hotels continue to post strong job numbers thanks to summer leisure travel demand, but the industry can't afford to ride on blind optimism. The Delta variant throwing a wrench in the expected return of business travel will show up in jobs reports later this year.
Hotels need workers, and July delivered another month of a much-needed boost in employment.
The U.S. added 74,000 jobs to the hotel sector last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. It is the third-highest rate of job growth since the start of the pandemic. The hospitality and leisure sector, which includes bars and restaurants, added 380,000 jobs last month — a major factor in lowering the overall unemployment rate to 5.4 percent.
The job gains come as hotel executives continue to grapple with ways to recruit more staff following a catastrophic wave of job layoffs and furloughs last year as a result of the pandemic.
“It was a good report,” said American Hotel & Lodging Association CEO Chip Rogers. “It continues to mirror the growth we’re seeing in the industry.”
The hotel sector’s unemployment rate fell three points
