World Cup lifted July leisure jobs; leisure and hospitality fell by 3,700 in August

Annalise Vance Sherman told reporters leisure and hospitality employment dropped by about 3,700 jobs in August, an outcome she described as expected given prior event-related hiring patterns. "Leisure and hospitality fell by 3,700 in August. We expected this drop," she said.

Sherman quantified the earlier World Cup boost: from May to July Washington added about 5,800 leisure-and-hospitality jobs above expectations (roughly a 1.7% three-month increase), with Seattle adding roughly 3,200 jobs (about 2.3%). She broke the three-month gains down to 600 jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation and 5,300 jobs in food services and drinking places on a seasonally adjusted basis.