The U.S. hotel industry, despite struggling to reach pre-Covid employment levels, concluded 2023 with an uptick in hiring. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that approximately 6,300 jobs were added in the hotel sector in December 2023. Although this figure is a decrease from the revised gain of 12,400 jobs in December 2022, it represents a significant increase from November’s revised figure of 1,000 jobs.
The hotel industry’s employment is still down by approximately 195,500 jobs or about 9.3% from February 2020 levels. Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, stated that while hotels created over 6,000 jobs from November to December due to record-high average wages and improved benefits and upward mobility, nationwide labor shortages are hindering hoteliers from filling numerous jobs. He emphasized that this issue will continue to burden their members until Congress intervenes.
In the broader leisure and hospitality category, which includes hotels, around 40,000 new jobs were added in December. This accounts for nearly a fifth of the total jobs created in the U.S. last month. The leisure and hospitality sector added an average of 39,000 jobs per month in 2023, less than half of the average monthly gain of 88,000 jobs in the previous year.
In total, the U.S. added 216,000 jobs in December, with the unemployment rate remaining steady at 3.7%.
Source: skift.com