Travel Employment Recovered Last Month After July Slowdown

After tumbling in July, travel employment recovered solidly in August by adding 3,000 jobs.

Small gains were seen in food services/drinking places and in the airline industry. Employment changed little in most travel-related industries, including the lodging, amusement/recreation and retail segments.

Travel job growth has averaged 6,700 per month so far this year, below the average monthly gain in the same period of 2018. However, the average monthly growth in travel jobs surpassed the growth in total nonfarm employment for the first eight months in 2019. As a result, the travel industry contributed to 4.2% of total non-farm job increases this year, higher than the 3.9% in the same period in 2018.     

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7%.

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