U.S. Travel Industry Posts Major Employment Gains in January

The U.S. travel industry, outpacing other sectors, saw significant employment gains in January, according to the U.S. Labor Department’s January 2012 employment numbers reported on Feb. 3.

“Today's report offers a sign that the overall recovery, which has been stuck in low gear, is starting to accelerate, and confirms that the travel industry continues to outpace other sectors,” said David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association.

Huether pointed out that the travel industry posted its 13th gain in the past 14 months as it added 7,000 jobs in January 2012. “That means 7,540,000 U.S. workers are directly employed by travel, and these jobs cannot be outsourced,” he said.

Since the employment recovery began in March of 2010, travel industry employment has expanded by 223,000, marking a 3.1 percent increase -- faster than the 2.4 percent rise in employment in other sectors of the economy.

As a result, the travel industry has already made up for 45 percent of the job losses that took place during the recession. By comparison, the job gains in rest of the economy to-date have offset just 35 percent of the job losses during the recession.

Huether said the recovery in travel employment has had a positive impact on those who have been hardest hit in recent years, specifically those with less than a college degree who account for half of those over age 25 who are currently unemployed.