July turned out to be a big month for the travel industry, according to David Huether, senior vice president for research and economics at the U.S. Travel Association. Based on the recent Labor Department employment report and the Commerce Department export report, the travel industry continues to impact the economy with the addition of 13,400 jobs in July.
Huether notes that number of travel jobs has climbed to 8.1 million for a new record level. The industry has added jobs 17 out of the past 20 months, including 53,600 jobs so far in 2015. That’s a pretty impressive number considering that the entire manufacturing sector has added 49,000 jobs in 2015.
Since the employment recovery began, the travel industry has added 869,200 jobs and has outpaced job growth in the rest of the economy by 32 percent.”
“Travel continues to be a consistent job creator and strong contributor to the U.S. economy,” Huether says.
International trade is a key reason the travel industry has been adding jobs faster than the rest of the economy.
The Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit expanded by more than 5 percent in June to $43.8 billion. The trade deficit expansion is a byproduct of a surge of imports, which grew by nearly $2.8 billion during the month of June. Exports also declined for the second consecutive month, this time by $100 million.
Huether says travel exports remained strong at $18.7 billion in June, falling only slightly from May. Travel receipts—spending in the United States by foreign travelers—increased to an all-time high of $15.4 billion in June.
Travel exports as a whole have performed better than other goods and services exports in the first half of 2015. While total goods and services exports have fallen 2.9 percent, travel exports have expanded by 1.3 percent compared to the first half of last year. As a result, travel exports have accounted for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. goods and services exports during the first half of 2015.
