U.S. hotels added about 6,300 jobs in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that number is lower than a revised gain of 12,400 jobs in December 2022, it’s up from November’s revised figure of 1,000 jobs, Skift reported on January 5.
However, the U.S. hotel industry is still far from reaching its pre-pandemic hiring levels. Employment in the sector is still about 9.3% below February 2020 levels, or about 195,500 fewer jobs than three years ago.
According to Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the November-to-December gain in hotel jobs was driven by record-high average wages, better benefits and improved upward mobility, Skift reported. However, nationwide labor shortages persist, preventing hoteliers from filling tens of thousands of jobs, “and that problem will weigh heavily on our members until Congress takes action,” Rogers said.
In December, the broader leisure and hospitality category, which includes hotels, added about 40,000 jobs – that’s nearly one-fifth of all jobs created in the U.S. that month. The leisure and hospitality sector added an average of 39,000 jobs per month last year, less than half of the average monthly gain of 88,000 jobs during 2022.
Read the full Skift report here.
