Leisure and hospitality industry employment in metro Houston stood at 354,100 jobs in March 2024, a 0.3% increase over March 2023 and a 7% increase from pre-pandemic sector totals.
The industry accounts for 10% of the region’s 3.4 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 23,200 jobs since 2019, the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roughly 6.4% of the total jobs in the sector are currently open, slightly above the 6.2% of all nonfarm job openings in the region. That’s down from a peak of nearly 10% in December 2022 but still above pre-pandemic openings, suggesting a continued industry labor shortage.
Among leisure and hospitality subsectors:
- Accommodation and food services employment has increased 6.8% since 2019
- Arts, entertainment and recreation employment has grown by 8.9%
Written by A.J. Mistretta
