Travel industry employment reached an all-time high last month, according to the U.S. Travel Association, which last week released an analysis of the U.S. Department of Labor?s March jobs report.
Overall, the Labor Department reported, unemployment in March held steady at 6.7 percent as the U.S. economy added 192,000 new private-sector jobs ? many of which were in the travel industry, according to U.S. Travel Senior Vice President of Research and Economics David Huether.
?Further solidifying its claim as one of the most crucial sectors for job creation, the travel industry banked yet another employment record in March, growing to nearly 7.9 million direct U.S. jobs,? Huether said in a statement. ?The industry’s previous employment high of just under 7.8 million was set in February of 2008, prior to the Great Recession.?
Huether said the industry?s performance was ?especially remarkable? given this year?s long, harsh winter. ?The industry has proved its resilience by adding 31,000 jobs through the first quarter of 2014,? he continued. ?The overall economy, meanwhile, continues to lag, recovering only 95 percent of jobs since the recession. Travel has added jobs at a rate 17 percent faster than the economy since the recovery began in 2010.?
Source: Matt Alderton (2014). Travel Industry Employment Reaches Record Levels, Successful Meetings http://www.successfulmeetings.com/Conference-News/Research-White-Papers/Articles/Travel-Industry-Employment-Reaches-Record-Levels/ published Apr 07, 2014. Viewed Apr 10, 2014.