Leisure and Hospitality Industry Recovering Slowly

Among the nation’s four largest employment sectors, only the Leisure and Hospitality Services industry still has a long way to go to reach full recovery. When job cuts and furloughs due to the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll in April, employment came down by 10% to 12% across the Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Education and Health Services and Professional and Business Services sectors, but took a much steeper dive – by 47% – in the Leisure and Hospitality Services industry. Though all these industries started to recover lost ground in May, Leisure and Hospitality Services had the most to regain, and faced further challenges from reduced capacity regulations and reclosures due to virus resurgences in some areas. As of November, employment totals were roughly 3% to 5% away from February numbers in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Education and Health Services and Professional and Business Services sectors, while the Leisure and Hospitality Services industry still has 17% – or 270,000 jobs – left to recover.