Leisure and hospitality sector added 78,000 jobs in April

Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma joins the Live show to discuss the April jobs report.

Video transcript

BRIAN CHEUNG: One thing that was in focus in that report was just the gains that we saw in leisure and hospitality. And for more on that, let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma, who was looking into that a little bit deeper. And Brooke, again, same story as we've seen in previous months-- big gains in that specific sector.

BROOKE DIPALMA: Absolutely, Brian. When you think of the comeback that happened since the pandemic started back in February of 2020, it certainly is a huge moment for the leisure and hospitality sector here. In April, it increased to 78,000 jobs they added, that is. And then when you look deeper into that, the food services and drinking places-- of course, you know that's bars and restaurants-- they added about 44,000. And accommodation, hotels, lodges, motels, added about 22,000 jobs.

But Akiko and Brian, it's a long road ahead for this leisure and hospitality sector to just get back to where it was. It's still down 1.4 million jobs. That's 8.5% since that February 2020 onset of the pandemic. But when you think about the pent-up demand that we're seeing from consumers just really eager to get out, to spend, to travel, of course, as the summer months come closer-- also, too, think about it. We're back in the office. People are going back into their offices. They're looking to stop and grab breakfast. It really comes down to the fact that can these restaurants fill that demand with the staff that's needed?

And that's for so many restaurants to have to cut hours, delay their openings, and really take a second look at their staffing, because just recently on Wednesday, we got new data out of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that 889,000 employees quit in the leisure and hospitality sector in March of 2022. So to fill that demand while also seeing so many quit this sector, it's certainly lots to gamble here.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, well, and I guess the question is, how many of those people who left are actually going to come back to the sector, even if they come back to the labor force? And that's something that we've heard from so many businesses who say that, look, after what happened in the pandemic, they're looking to other areas.

BROOKE DIPALMA: For stability, perhaps, more hours.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah.

BROOKE DIPALMA: Absolutely.

AKIKO FUJITA: Something we'll be watching closely.