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1. US Adds 678,000 Jobs
The latest data from the U.S. Labor Department shows 678,000 jobs were added during February and the jobless rate declined to 3.8%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The labor market continues to be quite hot,” said Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed. “It looks like the labor market is still primed for lots of strong employment growth.”
However, employers say it's still a struggle to find workers, especially as many older workers are retiring.
2. Ukraine Ambassador Criticizes Turkish Tourism Group
Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, has called on Ukrainian travel agencies not to work with those in Turkey over "what he called its 'two-faced' stance amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Reuters reports.
"NATO member Turkey, which shares a maritime border with Russia and Ukraine and has good ties with both, has criticized Moscow's invasion but so far avoided the harsher rhetoric of other alliance members and opposes their use of sanctions," the news outlet reports.
Both Ukrainians and Russians are among the top feeder markets to Turkey, with more than 2 million Ukrainian tourists and another 4.7 million Russians arriving in Turkey in 2021.
3. Demand for Hotel Weddings Returns
Despite rising inflation and possible lingering COVID-19 concerns, hoteliers across the U.S. noted the pace of wedding bookings hasn't slowed this year and the average size is returning to pre-pandemic levels, HNN's Dana Miller reports.
Jeannie Green, corporate director of sales and catering at Kessler Collection, said demand for weddings across her 12 hotels is matching what the demand was pre-pandemic.
"I had one hotel that did scale back a little bit just from a financial perspective, but for the most part, they're so excited that they're able to get married that despite the fact that the [cost of something] is higher," she added.
4. China's Strict COVID-19 Restrictions Creates Global Tourism Spending Loss
China continues to have among the toughest COVID-19 guidelines, such as its zero-tolerance approach and sealing of borders, despite other countries now deeming the virus as endemic, Bloomberg reports.
As a result, a "$280 billion black hole for global tourism" has been created.
"Chinese travelers spent $277 billion overseas in 2018 and another $255 billion in 2019, accounting for almost 20% of all international tourism spending, data from the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization show," the news outlet reports.
5. Los Angeles Lifts Indoor Mask, Vaccination Mandates
Beginning Friday, Los Angeles County will no longer require masks or vaccine verification indoors at grocery stores, restaurants and bars, the New York Times reports. However, some restrictions do still apply for large indoor events and public transportation.
"Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, cited new federal guidelines for measuring risk in communities in her office’s decision to remove restrictions sooner than expected. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated measures, she said, Los Angeles County is in the low-risk category," the news outlet reports.
Earlier this week, New York City announced it will let similar mandates expire beginning March 7.