Orlando’s robust travel sector is producing strong employment growth. Air transportation led all industries with an 11% increase in October employment compared to the same time last year. The industry's strong employment growth was supported by a 14% increase in total passenger volume at Orlando International Airport for the 12 months ending in October.
The second largest year-over-year increase in employment was the 7% increase in the accommodations industry. Industries in the retail and health services sectors also experienced strong hiring over the past 12 months.
Total nonfarm employment in Orlando in October was 2% higher than the same month last year.
Employment in Orlando’s accommodations industry totaled 66,100 in October, up from 61,600 a year ago. The pace of hiring in accommodations has exceeded the hotel industry’s performance over the past year and reflects an industry that is still recovering from dramatic job losses during the pandemic. While accommodations employment was up 7% in October, hotel demand for the 12-month period ending October 2023 was up 2%.
Hiring in the accommodations industry has also exceeded inventory growth in Orlando. Seven properties totaling 735 rooms opened from October 2022 through October 2023, representing less than 1% of Orlando’s 139,000 rooms.
However, accommodations industry employment in October was still 3% below the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020. Conversely, total nonfarm employment in Orlando was 7.6% above the February 2020 level, led by the professional and business services and education and health services sectors, both of which have expanded by more than 15%.
Another surprise in Orlando’s employment picture is coming from the construction sector. Compared to February 2020, construction employment in Orlando has declined by 0.3% since the beginning of the pandemic, despite a brisk pace of expansion in the industrial and multifamily sectors. One contributing factor is a lack of skilled construction labor in Florida right now. Additionally, softening demand for residential labor, as high interest rates take their toll on the housing market, is keeping construction employment muted.
Florida Senate Bill 1718, which went into effect in July and requires the use of the E-Verify system for any company employing more than 25 people to disqualify illegal immigrants from gaining employment, will likely have an impact on the availability of construction laborers in the near term. The Florida Policy Institute estimates that roughly 10% of the state’s workers are undocumented.
In addition to accommodations and construction, other industries in Orlando that still trail pre-pandemic employment levels include business support services, wired telecommunications carriers and state and local government.