The travel industry is a shining star in the employment recovery, creating jobs in 30 of the last 35 months for a total of 304,000 jobs added since December 2009, according to David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association. Huether offered his analysis of the Labor Department report that the unemployment rate was 7.7 percent for November 2012:
"Similar to recent months, today's Labor Department report indicated a modest increase of 146,000 jobs added to non-farm payroll employment in November. The unemployment rate slightly declined to 7.7 percent," Huether said. "Even with the ominous fiscal cliff closing in, the travel industry continues to add jobs, including 2,500 new positions in November alone and 79,000 thus far in 2012.
"And since the overall employment recovery began in early 2010, the travel industry has added jobs at a 17 percent faster pace than the rest of the economy and has recovered 61 percent of the jobs lost during the Great Recession, compared to 52 percent in the rest of the economy," he noted.
The travel industry is an indispensable source for quality American jobs, Huether said, noting a new report by Oxford Economics and the U.S. Travel Association. The report analyzed more than three decades of data to find that travel jobs provide skills that translate into rewarding careers with higher pay and greater access to educational opportunities than many other industries.
U.S. Travel also noted its first-of-its-kind jobs report, Fast Forward, is now available.
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