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Employment in leisure and hospitality fell 48.6 percent from February 2020 to April 2020, as restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, and hotels shut down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry began recovering jobs in May 2020, but leisure and hospitality employment in July 2023 was still 2.1 percent below its February 2020 level. Within leisure and hospitality, only performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries had returned to its pre-pandemic employment level by 2023.
Month | Leisure and hospitality | Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries | Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions | Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries | Accommodation | Food services and drinking places |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 2020 |
99.5 | 99.1 | 100.6 | 99.3 | 100.0 | 99.4 |
Feb 2020 |
100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Mar 2020 |
95.6 | 94.8 | 99.2 | 97.6 | 97.3 | 95.0 |
Apr 2020 |
51.4 | 51.0 | 72.6 | 44.4 | 56.4 | 51.3 |
May 2020 |
58.7 | 46.7 | 71.0 | 45.4 | 49.9 | 62.5 |
Jun 2020 |
69.4 | 48.7 | 70.9 | 57.5 | 58.5 | 73.8 |
Jul 2020 |
72.4 | 48.8 | 69.9 | 63.5 | 59.1 | 77.0 |
Aug 2020 |
74.0 | 50.9 | 71.9 | 64.5 | 59.8 | 78.9 |
Sep 2020 |
76.9 | 51.3 | 74.0 | 72.5 | 63.9 | 80.9 |
Oct 2020 |
78.3 | 57.5 | 75.6 | 73.5 | 64.4 | 82.3 |
Nov 2020 |
78.4 | 60.2 | 75.9 | 75.9 | 64.6 | 82.0 |
Dec 2020 |
75.4 | 59.5 | 75.7 | 71.7 | 62.4 | 78.9 |
Jan 2021 |
75.7 | 62.3 | 75.3 | 71.4 | 61.7 | 79.4 |
Feb 2021 |
77.9 | 62.0 | 75.9 | 73.8 | 62.8 | 81.8 |
Mar 2021 |
78.8 | 62.8 | 76.4 | 76.1 | 63.8 | 82.5 |
Apr 2021 |
80.0 | 63.1 | 77.6 | 77.6 | 65.4 | 83.6 |
May 2021 |
81.3 | 64.4 | 78.6 | 79.9 | 66.3 | 84.9 |
Jun 2021 |
82.9 | 67.8 | 79.9 | 80.8 | 68.9 | 86.4 |
Jul 2021 |
84.6 | 71.1 | 81.1 | 82.5 | 72.7 | 87.6 |
Aug 2021 |
86.0 | 77.1 | 81.7 | 83.7 | 74.4 | 88.7 |
Sep 2021 |
87.1 | 82.2 | 82.6 | 85.3 | 75.8 | 89.6 |
Oct 2021 |
88.1 | 86.6 | 83.9 | 85.9 | 77.0 | 90.5 |
Nov 2021 |
89.2 | 89.5 | 85.1 | 87.5 | 78.2 | 91.3 |
Dec 2021 |
90.0 | 92.4 | 86.3 | 88.0 | 79.2 | 92.1 |
Jan 2022 |
90.7 | 88.4 | 87.2 | 89.0 | 80.0 | 93.0 |
Feb 2022 |
91.7 | 90.8 | 88.4 | 89.8 | 81.0 | 93.9 |
Mar 2022 |
92.0 | 92.2 | 89.4 | 90.7 | 81.8 | 94.0 |
Apr 2022 |
92.2 | 95.1 | 89.7 | 89.1 | 82.6 | 94.2 |
May 2022 |
92.6 | 95.9 | 90.6 | 90.1 | 83.2 | 94.5 |
Jun 2022 |
93.1 | 96.6 | 91.2 | 90.7 | 83.8 | 94.9 |
Jul 2022 |
93.8 | 97.8 | 92.1 | 90.5 | 84.3 | 95.7 |
Aug 2022 |
94.0 | 96.5 | 93.1 | 91.5 | 84.8 | 95.9 |
Sep 2022 |
94.9 | 99.5 | 93.6 | 92.7 | 85.2 | 96.6 |
Oct 2022 |
95.2 | 99.0 | 93.6 | 93.5 | 86.1 | 96.9 |
Nov 2022 |
95.9 | 97.1 | 95.6 | 95.0 | 86.8 | 97.6 |
Dec 2022 |
96.3 | 97.7 | 95.2 | 95.8 | 87.4 | 97.8 |
Jan 2023 |
96.9 | 97.7 | 96.4 | 96.2 | 87.8 | 98.5 |
Feb 2023 |
97.2 | 98.7 | 97.3 | 96.3 | 88.0 | 98.9 |
Mar 2023 |
97.5 | 99.8 | 98.4 | 96.6 | 88.0 | 99.1 |
Apr 2023 |
97.5 | 99.8 | 98.8 | 97.1 | 87.8 | 99.2 |
May 2023 |
97.7 | 100.6 | 99.2 | 97.1 | 87.7 | 99.4 |
Jun 2023 |
97.8 | 101.5 | 99.3 | 97.7 | 87.9 | 99.4 |
Jul 2023 |
97.9 | 101.0 | 99.5 | 97.8 | 88.0 | 99.5 |
From February 2020 to May 2020, employment in performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries fell 53.3 percent. The industry has since recovered the jobs lost and employment in July 2023 was 1.0 percent higher than in February 2020.
Employment in food services and drinking places, which accounts for 74 percent of all leisure and hospitality employment, was 0.5 percent below its February 2020 level after declining 48.7 percent from February 2020 to April 2020.
With a 55.6-percent decline in employment from February 2020 to April 2020, the amusement, gambling, and recreation industry recorded the largest decrease among the major components. Employment in July 2023 was 2.2 percent lower than in February 2020.
As of July 2023, accommodation employment was still 12.0 percent below its February 2020 level—more than any other major component industry. Accommodation employment declined 50.1 percent from February 2020 to May 2020.
These data are from the Current Employment Statistics program and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent 2 months are preliminary. To learn more, see "The Employment Situation — July 2023." Also see more charts of national employment, hours, and earnings data.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Leisure and hospitality employment down 2.1 percent from February 2020 level at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/leisure-and-hospitality-employment-down-2-1-percent-from-february-2020-level.htm (visited October 31, 2024).