U.S. Hotels Ended 2023 With Increased Job Growth

The U.S. hotel industry still has a lot of work to do to reach pre-Covid hiring. But it’s ending 2023 on a high note.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed Friday that hotels added roughly 6,300 jobs in December, down from a revised gain of 12,400 jobs in December 2022 but a healthy jump from November’s revised figure of 1,000 jobs.

Employment in the sector is down about 195,500 jobs — or roughly 9.3% — from February 2020 levels.

“Hotels created more than 6,000 jobs from November to December thanks to record-high average wages and better benefits and upward mobility than ever before. But nationwide labor shortages are preventing hoteliers from filling tens of thousands of jobs, and that problem will weigh heavily on our members until Congress takes action,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Meanwhile, the broader leisure and hospitality category — which includes hotels — added about 40,000 new jobs in December. That’s close to a fifth of the total jobs created in the U.S. last month. Leisure and hospitality added an average of 39,000 jobs per month in 2023, less than half of the average monthly gain of 88,000 jobs the previous year.

The U.S. added 216,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7%.