The leisure and hospitality sector, including restaurants, added 331,000 jobs in April, accounting for much of the country’s job creation last month. Commerce’s Friday report showed sales at restaurants and bars in April were just 2% lower than their levels in February 2020, just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S.
The recovery of hotel demand is exacerbating the industry’s ongoing labor shortage, leading companies to explore new ways of recruiting employees to their hotels, including the possibility of paying them at the end of their shifts.
Credit-card spending in the U.S. totaled nearly $3.9 trillion on general-purpose and store cards last year, down 9% from 2019.
Last year was a banner one for the mortgage business. Lenders originated a record $3.83 trillion in home loans in 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This year, total originations are expected to fall to $3.3 trillion, a 14.2% decline. Still, at that level, 2021 would rank among the best years on record.
Energy-inefficient buildings will need to be upgraded if countries are to meet net-zero commitments. Although commercial real estate is less of a problem than residential, it will likely be targeted earlier as its ownership is less fragmented and less politically sensitive.
Jobless claims fell below 500,000 last week for the first time during the pandemic as layoffs decline and hiring accelerates.
The exchange operator CME Group Inc. said it would permanently close most of its open-outcry trading pits in Chicago, ending one of the world’s last vestiges of old-fashioned floor trading. Floor trading for agricultural commodities has existed in Chicago since the mid-19th century.
U.S. hotel revenue per available room for the week was 70% of what it was during the same week in 2019. RevPAR has been at or above 67% of 2019 levels for the past four weeks.
Stockholdings among U.S. households increased to 41% of their total financial assets in April, the highest level on record dating back to 1952.
