Two-Thirds of Pre-Pandemic Jobs That Remain Lost Were in the Travel Industry

The U.S. Journey Affiliation (U.S. Journey)—the non-profit group that represents the pursuits of the nation’s journey trade—at this time issued its response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) revised January employment report.

The report reveals the previous a number of months’ price of corrected knowledge, which confirms that 10 p.c of pre-pandemic leisure and hospitality jobs stay misplaced because of the affect of COVID-19. That 10 p.c of sector employment represents a whopping 61 p.c of total jobs within the U.S. which have been misplaced on account of the pandemic.

“Whereas the general jobs report at this time could also be excellent news for some, the revised BLS knowledge now confirms an excellent greater revelation, that 61 p.c, or practically two-thirds, of all jobs nonetheless misplaced because of the pandemic are within the Leisure & Hospitality sector,” Govt Vice President of Public Affairs and Coverage at U.S. Journey, Tori Emerson Barnes, stated in an announcement. “The uneven restoration of the journey sector is due largely to the dearth of inbound worldwide vacationers, and the deep discount in enterprise journey, {and professional} conferences and occasions.”

She added, “There couldn’t be a extra urgent time for Congress to implement short-term priorities to stimulate this important contributor to the U.S. financial system and rebuild American jobs.” For months now, U.S. Journey has been petitioning Congress to supply additional monetary aid and incentives that might assist to bolster the ailing journey sector.

The group has already put measures earlier than Congress that might help the journey trade’s restoration, together with:

— A better cap on H-2B visas, to ease the absence of labor for the over a million job openings within the leisure and hospitality trade.

— The Restoring Model USA Act, which would offer $250 million in emergency funding for Model USA.

— Focused, non permanent tax credit and deductions to stimulate spending on enterprise journey, stay leisure and in-person occasions.

— Further funding for aid grants to severely impacted journey companies.