WASHINGTON — Travel is a major factor in the economic recovery in the U.S., according to David Huether, senior vice president for research and economics at the U.S. Travel Association.

The U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September while the unemployment rate dipped below 6% to 5.9% for the first time since July 2008.

“The travel industry continues to power our nation’s employment recovery, adding 8,700 jobs in September, 4% of overall non-farm employment added last month. A model of consistency, travel has added jobs 11 of the past 12 months and has expanded payrolls by 129,000 over the past year. Travel employment now stands at 7,998,000 direct jobs – just shy of eight million workers.

“Travel continues to be a leading force in getting Americans back to work. After losing close to half a million jobs in the Great Recession, the travel industry has added 771,000 jobs and has outpaced job creation in the rest of the economy by 38% since the employment recovery began.”

Separately, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that travel exports increased to $19.2 billion in August, up $0.2 billion from July. Travel continues to be a major force in overall export growth for the economy.

“Through August, total U.S. exports are up $49 billion compared to the first eight months of last year, and travel exports accounted for 17% of this increase. Moreover, so far this year, travel exports have increased by 5.5% compared to last year, which is 84% faster than other U.S. export growth.

“These numbers without a doubt confirm that welcoming more international travellers to our shores is a powerful engine of economic growth for our country that will create more American jobs.”

As documented in U.S. Travel’s latest research report on Travel Exports, robust growth in travel exports has been a central reason why travel is responsible for creating jobs faster than the rest of the economy in recent years. Every $1 million in travel exports supports 6.6 American jobs.