Travel Employment Up at End of 2011

The U.S. Travel Association has reported that employment in the travel industry rose by 7,000 jobs in December to 7,528,000 positions, ending 2011 on a positive note. "The travel industry accounted for 7 percent of the 1.6 million jobs created during the past 12 months," said David Huether, senior vice president of economics and research at US Travel. He added that the travel industry expanded its employment base by 119,000 in 2011, doubling the number of jobs created by construction and real estate combined.