U.S. Hotel Unemployment Hits New Pandemic Low for a Bad Reason
Photo Credit: A ramping up in hiring isn't the reason behind the hotel industry's sudden drop in unemployment. Wikimedia / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Honolulu,_Hawaii_-_Ala_Moana_Hotel_Check_In_during_COVID-19_Pandemic.jpg
Skift Take
The industry unemployment rate may be falling, but it isn’t for the reason hotel owners would like.
The U.S. hotel industry unemployment rate is finally pacing with the national average, but this doesn’t mean jobs are getting filled.
American hotels only added 6,600 jobs last month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That may not sound like much for an industry notoriously starved for employees, but it was enough to drop the hotel unemployment rate to 5.5 percent — the lowest seen during the pandemic and the closest it has come to the national average during the health crisis. Hotel unemployment has typically run well above the national average over the last 21 months.
Overall U.S. unemployment fell to 3.9 percent last month with 199,000 jobs added to the economy, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s payroll survey. Underlying data to the survey showed a strengthening labor market, but hotel owners aren’t likely t
