Hospitality Sector Becomes America's Fastest-Growing Employer

At the outset of the COVID pandemic, America's hospitality sector undertook a swath of layoffs.

Now, the country's bars, restaurants and hotels are among the fastest-growing employers in the U.S., helping drive the lowest unemployment rate in decades.

That's according to a Sunday (Mar. 5) report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which says the leisure-and-hospitality industry is rebuilding its workforce as the tech sector contracts.

And because these companies represent a larger number of jobs than the tech industry, it's led to a shift in hiring patterns that's kept the job market tight.

STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 4 March

U.S. hotel performance fell from the previous week, according to STR‘s latest data through 4 March.

• Among the Top 25 Markets, Detroit saw the highest occupancy increase over 2019 (+5.0% to 63.2%), while Washington, D.C. was up the most from last year (+23.6% to 64.1%).
• D.C. also showed the most substantial RevPAR growth year over year (+52.2% to US$113.56).
• In terms of ADR, Las Vegas (US$196.65) reported the highest ADR increase when measuring against 2019 (+56.8%) and 2022 (+33.7%). Las Vegas also saw the largest jump in RevPAR over 2019 (+54.3% to US$153.55).
• The steepest RevPAR declines from 2019 were seen in San Francisco (-51.4% to US$117.39) and New Orleans (-19.4% to US$122.95). Year over year, Miami (-4.2% to US$225.72) was the only Top 25 Market to report a RevPAR decrease.

26 Feb-4 March 2023 (percentage change from comparable weeks in 2022, 2019):

• Occupancy: 62.8% (+3.0%, -5.6%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$151.35 (+8.9%, +14.1%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$95.06 (+12.1%, +7.7%)