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1. US Employment Claims Decline
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that Americans seeking employment — specificially seasonally adjusted initial claims — in the week ending June 11 numbered 229,000, a decrease of 3,000, and the four-week moving average was 218,500, an increase of 2,750. A news release added the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 0.9% for the week ending June 4, and for the same period the four-week moving average was 1,317,500, the lowest level since January 10, 1970.
The Wall Street Journal added that May’s official unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, a slight increase compared to February 2020. Wages increased by 5.2% year over year, but that was down from April’s 5.5% year-over-year increase. The newspaper also said that “jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, fell to 200,000 last week from the previous week’s seasonally adjusted 211,000 … [which] mark the fourth month of historically low jobless claims.”
2. US Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rates by Highest Amount Since 1994
On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by their highest amount in almost 30 years and said more increases might be on the way. The latest hike was by 0.75%, which has increased its benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%, reported the Wall Street Journal, which added the rise was deemed necessary to counter inflation that is running at a 40-year high.
The National Association of Realtors’ chief economist Lawrence Yun reacted to the rise, stating: “So far, the short-term, fed-funds rate that the Fed directly controls has risen by 175 basis points. But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage has risen even more, by nearly 300 basis points. On the same $300,000 mortgage, the monthly payment has risen from $1,265 in December to $1,800 today. That’s painful and, consequently, will shrink the buyer pool.”
3. What Hoteliers Have Learned from Latest Booking Trends
Lead times for hotel bookings are getting increasingly shorter, so short they even include day-of walk-ins with no prior notice. As a result, hoteliers are having to manage last-minute demand by being more flexible and forward-thinking, Hotel News Now’s Dana Miller reports.
That trend is not just for leisure travelers. Emily Likosar, director of sales and catering for The Rose Hotel Chicago O’Hare, said “small groups of less than 15 attendees are trending toward a shorter booking window with the majority of bookings coming in about two to four weeks in advance.” Likosar added that larger groups do tend to still book a little farther out.
4. Weekly Performance Improves for US, Canadian Hotels
U.S. hotel industry average daily rate and revenue per available for the week ending June 11 exceeded 2019 levels, according to data from STR, but occupancy declined. ADR came in at $155.37, 15.4% above the comparable week in 2019, and RevPAR came in at $109.76, a 10.7% increase over 2019. Occupancy for the week was 70.6%, down 4.1% from the same week in 2019.
For the same period, Canada's hotel industry posted only improved ADR in comparison with 2019. It was up 3.6% to 186.02 Canadian dollars ($143.77). RevPAR declined 1.1% to 131.15 Canadian dollars, and occupancy declined 4.5% to 70.5%. Of its major markets, only Toronto reported improvements across all three metrics compared with the same week in 2019, with occupancy up 1.6% to 83.9%, ADR up 12.9% to 240.72 Canadian dollars, and RevPAR up 14.6% to 201.95 Canadian dollars.
5. Colorado Springs’ Mining Exchange Hotel Sale Marks City’s Highest Per-Room Price
Hotel owner Kemmons Wilson has completed its acquisition of the 117-room The Mining Exchange, a Wyndham Grand Hotel & Spa, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which seller Park Equities has said is the city’s highest per-room sale ever recorded, even though the purchase price is undisclosed, according to a news release.
The hotel, built in 1901 as a stock exchange for mining corporations, has remained largely intact, boasting such features a brass staircase, original safes and granite-topped desks and tables. Perry Sanders, an attorney who worked on the sale, said “we managed to preserve one of the coolest historic buildings that’s ever been built in this city. When so many buildings have been torn down, we really took this back to its core and preserved everything in it that could be preserved.”