Travel Industry Withstands Shutdown, Adds 16K Jobs in October
Industry Economist Had Expected a Major Downturn Due to Budget Impasse
WASHINGTON - November 11, 2013 - David Huether, senior vice president for research and economics at the U.S. Travel Association, commented on the Department of Labor's latest employment data released Friday:
"Despite the disruptions caused by the government shutdown, the travel industry added 16,000 jobs in October and contributed to more than six percent of October's total non-farm employment gains. This good news is a pleasant surprise—I had been concerned that the federal shutdown would interrupt the terrific progress the industry has made in adding jobs since the economic recovery started in 2010. The fact that the travel sector so impressively withstood the budget tomfoolery in Washington—which shut down national parks and other attractions for half the month of October—is a testament to the vibrancy and resiliency of our industry.
“So far this year, the travel industry has added 18 percent more jobs compared to the first 10 month of last year, while the rest of the economy has added just seven percent more jobs.
“The travel industry has now made up 95 percent of the jobs lost during the great recession, while the rest of the economy has only made up 82 percent of jobs lost.
“The reason for this is that the travel industry is unique. Travel is internationally engaged, is labor-intensive and is largely immune to offshore outsourcing. With these ingredients, travel has added jobs at a six percent faster rate than the rest of the economy, creating 446,000 jobs since early 2010."
Huether is available for further analysis and comment.
Contact:
Chris Kennedy, (O) 202-218-3603, (C) 202-465-6635
The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $2.0 trillion in economic output and supports 14.6 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States. Visit www.ustravel.org.
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