Jobs in leisure and hospitality have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

This year’s March jobs data gave the impression that employment in this industry had finally returned to what it was before the outbreak.

Slow down, my friend.

After the employment figures from previous months were revised, the major industry that deals with consumers is almost back to its pre-pandemic state. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were an estimated 16.897 million workers in the leisure and hospitality sector as of April, down from 16.899 million in February 2020.

In 2022 and 2023, the leisure and hospitality sector was one of the main employers, but last month there was only a net gain of 5,000 jobs in this sector.

The availability of more precise and detailed information often leads to changes in federal data. The initial monthly estimates are changed twice as much in the monthly jobs report, and they are also subject to modifications in the annual benchmarking process.

In comparison to previous revisions, the overall changes seen in April were somewhat minor. The expected growth for February and March was revised downward by a total of 22,000 jobs. Estimates for February fell from 34,000 to 236,000 net jobs added, while March’s robust 303,000 job growth was revised up from 12,000 to 315,000.