Total industry employment nears five-year high; 33,000 jobs added during Q2
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that total travel and tourism-related employment rose 1.7 percent during the second quarter of 2015, now accounting for more than 8 million U.S. jobs. More than 33,000 jobs were added during the second quarter alone, bringing the number of jobs added in 2015 to more than 75,000 year to date.
“The travel and tourism sector produces nearly $1.6 trillion a year in economic output and creates jobs here in the United States,” said Under Secretary Selig. “The industry has enjoyed twenty-one consecutive quarters of job growth with eight million U.S. jobs supported by the continued success of travel and tourism."
•Tourism Prices. Price growth for travel and tourism goods and services turned up in the second quarter of 2015, increasing 1.0 percent following a decrease of 8.7 percent in the first quarter. The upturn was mainly attributable to an upturn in prices for “all other transportation-related commodities,” which includes gasoline; this commodity group increased 16.5 percent in the second quarter after decreasing 34.0 percent in the first quarter.
•Tourism Spending. Real spending (output) on travel and tourism accelerated in the second quarter of 2015, increasing at an annual rate of 6.5 percent and continuing to outpace the growth of the U.S. economy (3.7 percent). The leading contributors to the acceleration in the second quarter were “traveler accommodations” and “passenger air transportation,’ increasing 13.2 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA).
The Bureau of Economic Analysis, through funding provided by the International Trade Administration, National Travel and Tourism Office, produces the U.S. Travel and Tourism Satellite Account (TTSA) from which these estimates were derived.
Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts form an indispensable statistical instrument that allows the United States to measure the relative size and importance of the travel and tourism industry, along with its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP).
Approved by the United Nations in March 2002 and endorsed by the U.N. Statistical Commission, TTSAs have become the international standard by which travel and tourism is measured. In fact, more than fifty countries around the world have embraced travel and tourism satellite accounting as the only comprehensive, comparable, and credible measure of travel and tourism and its impact on national economies.
For more information on TTSAs, please visit:
http://travel.trade.gov/research/programs/satellite/index.html
To view the Q2 2015 report in its entirety, please visit:
http://travel.trade.gov/research/programs/satellite/tour215.pdf
