U.S. Travel Association Reports Job Growth in Travel Industry

The U.S. Travel Association reported that the growth of jobs in travel outpaced a slower employment rate growth overall in March, according to David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at USTA, who analyzed the recently released Labor Department report on March 2012 employment numbers.

According to Huether, travel added 6,000 jobs last month, bringing the industry’s total employment to 7.5 million. The number of jobs in travel has grown by 131,300 since February 2011.

There were gains in restaurant, lodging and airlines, which made up for declines in retail, amusements, gambling and recreation. In the prior three months, employment in the travel industry rose by 30,800, making up 4.9 percent of all non-farm jobs added in the first quarter of 2012.