US employment picture bleak with exception of travel
The US’s job outlook continues to conjure up words such as "sluggish" and "lackluster" except for one sector: Travel jobs in the US increased for the eighth consecutive month, according to the US Labor Department.
They reported the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1 percent recently but that the travel industry posted 9,200 new jobs in July. That was down from the 30,000 number posted in June. But the travel industry has accounted for more than one in 10 jobs this year.
“However, through the first seven months of 2011, travel industry employment has expanded by 106,000 to a level of 7.5 million workers, accounting for 11.4 percent of the total jobs created so far this year,” said the Labor Department.
“As we have already seen this year, the travel industry is one of the most efficient job engines in the U.S. economy, creating twice as many jobs as the rest of the private sector for any given increase in output,” said David Huether, senior vp of economics and research at the US Travel Association.
He and others in the travel industry are recommending that the US improve its visa system to create even more jobs. Huether said:
“Travelers from China, India and Brazil collectively spent close to $15 billion in the U.S. in 2010, which supported 105,800 U.S. jobs. Barriers, like visa delays, that discourage travel to the U.S. must be removed so we can enjoy the economic impact of these travelers.”
By David Wilkening
David
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