Amid the turbulent economic news that hiring was down while unemployment ticked up in July, the U.S. Travel Association reported that travel and hospitality jobs continue to increase.

The sector added 18,000 jobs over the two most recent reported months, said U.S. Travel vice president of research Joshua Friedlander in a blog post. He also said the leisure and hospitality sector currently employs nearly 17 million people, up almost 300,000 year-over-year.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July employment figures showed that fewer new jobs were created than in prior months and that the unemployment rate has risen to 4.3%.

Friedlander said at least 1 million jobs remain open in the travel sector. Citing strong demand for travel, such as U.S. Travel data showing that 92% of American travelers are planning trips within the next six months and that year-to-date international inbound visitors are up 18% in 2024 — Friedlander said the U.S. needs to do more to bolster programs to fill seasonal jobs in the tourism industry, such as expand the H-2B guest worker program that allows employers to hire foreign workers for temporary jobs. 

U.S. Travel also noted that while inflation has cooled overall, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), released in June, reveals that travel-related goods and services had fallen for the second month in a row and at a steeper rate than the overall economy.

And according to the U.S. Travel’s Travel Price Index (TPI), prices decreased 1.4% from the previous month, led by lower hotel, airline and gas prices. In contrast, the overall economy saw a 0.1% decrease, the first monthly decline since 2020.