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Current Employment Statistics (CES7000000001) · Leisure and hospitality, seasonally adjusted

How many jobs are there in leisure and hospitality?

The number of jobs in leisure and hospitality was 16,969 thousand in the month ended , up 0.4% from a year earlier (preliminary).

Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month

January 1939 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as published

Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (January 1939 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, each month (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours)

January 1939 to September 2026Ours, from the published values

Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (January 1939 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2016 to September 2026), recessions shaded
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, change from a year earlier, each month (ours) (September 2024 to September 2026)

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to , to .

Shaded bands are US recessions as the National Bureau of Economic Research dates them: to .

Each point is one month of the series as the source publishes it, or a change worked out from those values (ours). The US recessions are shaded. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

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Inspect and compare dates

The newest month beside the one before it and the nearest ones a year, five and ten years earlier. The last ten years are in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLatestThe month beforeA year earlierFive years earlierTen years earlier
Month
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands16,969 thousand16,959 thousand16,907 thousand14,746 thousand15,785 thousand
Change over a year+0.4%+0.5%+0.8%+12.9%+3.3%

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

Observed .

Right now

The number of jobs in leisure and hospitality was 16,969 thousand in September 2026, the highest since May 2026.

Over a year it is up 0.4% (ours). The source marks this value preliminary.

See every month of the last ten years

ChangeOurs

PeriodThenChange
One month16,959 thousand in +0.1%
Three months16,960 thousand in +0.1%
Twelve months16,907 thousand in +0.4%
Five years14,746 thousand in +15.1%
Ten years15,785 thousand in +7.5%

In historyOurs

The number of jobs in leisure and hospitality of 16,969 thousand in was higher than in 1,049 of the 1,052 other months since , the same in 0 and lower in 3.

Highest since : 17,014 thousand in . Lowest since : 1,860 thousand in .

AverageOurs

Average since : 8,126.3 thousand (ours, a plain mean of the 1,053 months).

ComparedOurs

Over a year the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality is up 0.4%, which ranks 14 of the 35 rows of the table, where 1 is the largest change.

The table sets the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, by the change over a year in each one's newest month.

See every row of the ranking

Openings and turnoverJob Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

In August 2026 the survey counted, for leisure and hospitality, 829 thousand job openings, 905 thousand hires, 567 thousand quits and 257 thousand layoffs and discharges.

Over a year the counts are job openings down 21.0%, hires down 4.0%, quits down 2.9% and layoffs and discharges down 14.3% (ours).

Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in leisure and hospitality

August 2016 to August 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in leisure and hospitality, one row for each measure
  • Job openings829321 to 1,787
  • Hires905423 to 2,002
  • Quits567329 to 926
  • Layoffs and discharges257144 to 5,157

Each row is one measure of the second survey for leisure and hospitality, in thousands over the last ten years, one month to a point, on one scale, with its newest value and its range printed beside it. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

See every measure with its change and record

Understanding the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality

Where it stands today

The number of jobs in leisure and hospitality was 16,969 thousand in September 2026.

What does the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality measure?

Leisure and hospitality covers arts, entertainment and recreation (theaters, sports teams, museums, amusement parks, casinos) and accommodation and food services (hotels, restaurants and bars).

Read more

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts these jobs each month in a survey of employers, the Current Employment Statistics, and publishes them in the Employment Situation report at the start of the next month. The count is all employees on payrolls, in thousands, seasonally adjusted.

What 500metrics adds: the change over one month, three months, a year and five years, the highest and lowest value since the series begins, how the change over a year ranks among the lines of the jobs by industry page. For this industry it also shows the job openings, hires, quits and layoffs from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a second BLS survey, beside the count of jobs.

The numbers behind the chart

What was the number of jobs in leisure and hospitality in each month?The last ten years, 120 months, newest first; the chart and the file have every month since Jan 1939
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands, seasonally adjusted, by month, newest first (Thousands of jobs; the change ours)
MonthValueChange over a year
16,969 thousand+0.4%
16,959 thousand+0.5%
16,922 thousand+0.4%
16,960 thousand+0.7%
17,014 thousand+1.0%
16,972 thousand+0.8%
16,979 thousand+0.9%
16,935 thousand+0.8%
16,966 thousand+0.8%
16,961 thousand+0.6%
16,936 thousand+0.7%
16,948 thousand+0.9%
16,907 thousand+0.8%
16,870 thousand+0.7%
16,848 thousand+0.6%
16,837 thousand+0.6%
16,839 thousand+0.6%
16,836 thousand+0.4%
16,823 thousand+0.3%
16,796 thousand+0.3%
16,832 thousand+0.7%
16,862 thousand+0.9%
16,823 thousand+0.8%
16,799 thousand+0.7%
Show 96 more rows
MonthValueChange over a year
16,776 thousand+0.8%
16,746 thousand+0.6%
16,751 thousand+0.8%
16,744 thousand+0.9%
16,731 thousand+1.2%
16,762 thousand+1.7%
16,780 thousand+2.0%
16,744 thousand+1.9%
16,716 thousand+2.2%
16,704 thousand+2.8%
16,694 thousand+3.2%
16,689 thousand+3.4%
16,643 thousand+3.7%
16,651 thousand+4.1%
16,616 thousand+4.3%
16,594 thousand+5.1%
16,533 thousand+5.3%
16,487 thousand+5.5%
16,450 thousand+6.0%
16,431 thousand+6.3%
16,352 thousand+6.7%
16,245 thousand+6.6%
16,183 thousand+7.4%
16,142 thousand+8.0%
16,052 thousand+8.9%
15,990 thousand+9.4%
15,931 thousand+9.9%
15,794 thousand+12.1%
15,704 thousand+13.8%
15,626 thousand+15.2%
15,523 thousand+16.7%
15,462 thousand+17.7%
15,329 thousand+19.7%
15,246 thousand+19.1%
15,071 thousand+13.7%
14,949 thousand+12.4%
14,746 thousand+12.9%
14,621 thousand+16.3%
14,495 thousand+16.8%
14,085 thousand+19.6%
13,802 thousand+38.8%
13,568 thousand+55.6%
13,298 thousand−17.7%
13,142 thousand−22.2%
12,801 thousand−23.9%
12,798 thousand−23.8%
13,260 thousand−20.9%
13,303 thousand−20.4%
13,065 thousand−21.6%
12,573 thousand−24.3%
12,415 thousand−24.9%
11,777 thousand−28.7%
9,947 thousand−39.7%
8,719 thousand−47.2%
16,158 thousand−2.1%
16,889 thousand+2.4%
16,823 thousand+2.0%
16,805 thousand+2.4%
16,761 thousand+2.4%
16,722 thousand+2.2%
16,673 thousand+2.1%
16,602 thousand+1.6%
16,522 thousand+1.2%
16,512 thousand+1.2%
16,507 thousand+1.5%
16,527 thousand+1.9%
16,504 thousand+1.6%
16,494 thousand+1.6%
16,488 thousand+1.7%
16,412 thousand+1.4%
16,361 thousand+1.2%
16,356 thousand+1.4%
16,325 thousand+1.1%
16,343 thousand+1.2%
16,329 thousand+1.3%
16,310 thousand+1.4%
16,261 thousand+1.3%
16,226 thousand+1.4%
16,239 thousand+1.9%
16,231 thousand+2.0%
16,209 thousand+2.1%
16,183 thousand+2.1%
16,160 thousand+2.1%
16,133 thousand+2.2%
16,140 thousand+2.2%
16,150 thousand+2.7%
16,122 thousand+2.8%
16,087 thousand+2.9%
16,046 thousand+3.0%
16,006 thousand+2.9%
15,941 thousand+2.6%
15,917 thousand+2.7%
15,874 thousand+2.7%
15,845 thousand+2.8%
15,826 thousand+2.9%
15,780 thousand+3.0%
How does it compare with the industries on the jobs by industry page?Ranked by the change over a year
Jobs in leisure and hospitality, in thousands beside the industries on the jobs by industry page, newest month of each, by the change over a year (ours); equal changes share a rank
SeriesMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Health care and social assistance23,959 thousand+2.2%1
Private education and health28,005 thousand+1.9%2
Utilities612 thousand+1.7%3
Construction8,364 thousand+1.3%4
Durable goods7,898 thousand+1.1%5
Professional, scientific, technical10,844 thousand+0.8%6
Accommodation and food services14,310 thousand+0.7%7
Goods-producing21,623 thousand+0.7%7
Other services6,039 thousand+0.6%9
Professional and business services22,482 thousand+0.6%9
Administrative, support, waste9,019 thousand+0.5%11
Private service-providing114,094 thousand+0.5%11
Total private135,717 thousand+0.5%11
Leisure and hospitality16,969 thousand+0.4%14
Wholesale trade6,078 thousand+0.4%14
Local government15,173 thousand+0.3%16
Manufacturing12,652 thousand+0.3%16
Mining and logging607 thousand+0.3%16
Service-providing137,421 thousand+0.3%16
Total nonfarm159,044 thousand+0.3%16
Retail trade15,480 thousand+0.2%21
Trade, transportation, utilities28,778 thousand+0.2%21
Mining, oil and gas extraction567 thousand+0.1%23
Private education4,046 thousand−0.1%24
Transportation and warehousing6,609 thousand−0.1%24
Management of companies2,620 thousand−0.3%26
State government5,472 thousand−0.5%27
Real estate, rental, leasing2,438 thousand−0.6%28
Government23,327 thousand−0.9%29
Nondurable goods4,754 thousand−0.9%29
Financial activities9,082 thousand−1.2%31
Finance and insurance6,645 thousand−1.4%32
Arts, entertainment, recreation2,659 thousand−1.6%33
Information2,739 thousand−4.2%34
Federal government2,682 thousand−8.0%35

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

How many job openings, hires, quits and layoffs were there in leisure and hospitality?Newest month of each measure
Job openings, hires, quits and layoffs in leisure and hospitality, newest month of each measure, seasonally adjusted (Thousands (job openings at the end of the month; hires, quits and layoffs during it); rates in percent; the change over a year ours)
MeasureMonthCountRateChange over a yearWhere the count stands
Job openings829 thousand4.7%−21.0%the highest since May 2026
Hires905 thousand5.3%−4.0%the lowest since June 2026
Quits567 thousand3.3%−2.9%the lowest since October 2025
Layoffs and discharges257 thousand1.5%−14.3%the lowest since December 2025

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • BLS counts jobs, not people: a person with two jobs on two payrolls is counted twice. Farm jobs, the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers and members of the military are not counted.
  • The count comes from a survey of employers, so each month's value carries sampling error. BLS revises each month twice in the two months after it is first published, and each February it benchmarks the series to a full count of jobs from unemployment insurance tax records and revises earlier values, so past values on this page can change.
  • BLS publishes this series from 1939.
  • The job openings, hires, quits and layoffs come from JOLTS, a separate survey of employers that BLS holds from December 2000 and publishes about a month after the payroll counts, so its newest month can be an earlier month than the count of jobs.
  • The changes, the ranks and the highest and lowest values are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percent.

Observed . Checked .

Observed .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, Leisure and hospitality, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026, with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, through August 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How many jobs are there in leisure and hospitality?", https://500metrics.com/jobs-by-industry/leisure-hospitality.

Can the data be downloaded?jobs-by-industry-leisure-hospitality.csv

Download the full history as CSV: 1,053 rows, to , 18,420 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

Recession dates from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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