Travel Industry Accounts for 11.4 Percent of New U.S. Jobs

Travel Industry Accounts for 11.4 Percent of New U.S. Jobs

The travel industry accounted for 11.4 percent of the total number of U.S. jobs created so far this year, according to an analysis of the Labor Department’s just-released jobs report for July.

According to David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at the U.S. Travel Association, the economy added a modest 117,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged at 9.1 percent. Employment gains were rather lackluster across most industries.

Posting a slowdown from the 30,000 jobs created in June, the travel industry added 9,200 jobs in July. However, through the first seven months of 2011, travel industry employment has expanded by 106,000 to a level of 7.5 million workers, accounting for 11.4 percent of the total jobs created so far this year.

That shows that the travel industry is one of the most efficient job engines in the U.S. economy, creating twice as many jobs as the rest of the private sector for any given increase in output. And a healthy travel industry is poised to help the very people who are currently out of work, Huether said. That means the travel industry is a job creator.

“Increasing the amount of international travelers to the U.S. through an improved U.S. visa system will create jobs, Huether said. “Travelers from China, India and Brazil collectively spent close to $15 billion in the U.S. in 2010, which supported 105,800 U.S. jobs. Barriers, like visa delays, that discourage travel to the U.S. must be removed so we can enjoy the economic impact of these travelers.”