Leisure and hospitality industry employment in metro Houston neared 362,000 jobs in April 2024, a 1.9% increase over April 2023 and an 8.8% increase from pre-pandemic sector totals.

The industry accounts for 10.6% of the region’s 3.44 million nonfarm jobs. Total nonfarm employment is up 2% over the same period a year ago.

Leisure and hospitality—which includes accommodation and food services as well as arts, entertainment, and recreation—has increased by about 29,400 jobs since 2019, the year prior to COVID-19 restricting travel.

About 6.6% of the total jobs in the sector are currently open, exactly the same percentage as all nonfarm job openings in the region. That’s down from a peak of nearly 10% in December 2022 but still above 2019 openings.

Among leisure and hospitality subsectors:

  • Accommodation and food services employment has increased 8.5% since 2019
  • Arts, entertainment and recreation employment has grown by 11.6%

Written by A.J. Mistretta

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