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1. US jobless claims fall
The latest U.S. Labor Department data shows jobless claims fell slightly last week to 203,000 compared to 207,000 the week prior in a sign layoffs remain in a historically low range across the country, the Associated Press reports.
It's not all good news on the labor front, though, as the news agency reports employers seem as reluctant to hire as they are to fire.
"When the Labor Department puts out the August jobs report next week, it’s expected to show that employers added another 65,000 jobs, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet," the AP reports. "Hiring this year remains well below the 166,000 monthly jobs created, on average, in 2023 and 2024, let alone the 491,000 a month recorded during the 2021-2022 hiring boom that followed pandemic lockdowns."
2. UK's use of hotels for asylum housing drops by half
The U.K.'s use of hotels to house asylum seekers, which had garnered some criticism in the country, has dropped drastically in the past year, falling from roughly 32,000 in June 2025 to approximately 16,000 during the same month this year, the BBC reports.
Government officials said "policies to control migration were having an effect" as a reason for the drop.
"A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly," Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said. "Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do."
3. Revenue managers shift to focus on profits
With growing cost pressures, revenue managers are upping their focus on the bottom line rather than just the top line, and that includes more closely scrutinizing the costs of bookings and contracts, CoStar News Hotels reports.
Experts say they're looking not just at getting the highest average daily rate now, but analyzing associated labor costs, customer acquisition costs and fees some guests might be paying on top of their rates.
"As all these things evolve, distribution costs change and costs are going up — labor costs are getting higher — everybody's trying to say, 'Hey, how do we drive profitability?'" Allison Frazier, vice president of revenue management for Peachtree Group, said. "At our company, we try to make that part of our culture. We understand that it's not just about always selling the highest [average daily rate] and that's it, or that it's about getting that highest occupancy and that's it. But it's everything else that goes into that then drives overall profitability."
4. US hotels see significant metric growth in July
The latest hotel performance data from CoStar shows significant growth in July with all three key performance metrics up.
The 8.2% year-over-year increase in revenue per available room was driven primarily by a 5.7% increase in average daily rate — up to $171.74. Occupancy increased 2.3% year over year to 69.7%.
Not surprisingly, FIFA World Cup final host market New York City saw the strongest ADR and RevPAR growth, up 24% and 27.1%, respectively. Detroit was the only market to record a double-digit increase in occupancy, up 10.7%.
5. Belfast hotel listed for second-highest price recorded in North Ireland
CoStar News' Terence Baker reports the 146-room Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast has been put on the market for a price over £32 million ($43.6 million).
If sold for that price, the deal would represent the second-highest hotel sale recorded in North Ireland.
Current owners Plazaway Investments acquired the hotel in 2015 for a reported price of £17 million.