Travel Sector Remains Thorn in a Falling U.S. Unemployment Rate Defying Expectations
Photo Credit: The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 13.3 percent in May, but the travel sector is still seeing brutally high numbers. Flickr / William Warby
Skift Take
The travel industry shouldn't sing yet — the hospitality and leisure unemployment rate fell three points in May, but the sector is still in a decimated place from where it was a year ago.
The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to 13.3 percent in May, potentially signaling early signs of a labor recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. But the travel labor sector continues to see a catastrophic level of unemployment.
Employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, leading the unemployment rate to drop by 1.4 percent, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The positive signs of growth show some sectors may already be recovering from coronavirus shutdowns that dragged the U.S. economy beginning in the second half of March.
“These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it,” the Labor Department said in a release. “In May, employment rose sharply in leisu
