by Calculated Risk on 3/03/2011 07:23:00 PM

• Earlier Employment Situation Preview: Some Improvement, but Still Grim. Note: Several analysts have upped their forecasts this afternoon.

Here is the weekly update on hotels from HotelNewsNow.com: STR: Orlando reports strong weekly increases

Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy increased 8.4% to 59.9%, ADR was up 3.4% to US$99.38, and RevPAR finished the week up 12.1% to US$59.54.

Note: RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room.
Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

This graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate.

The occupancy rate really fell off a cliff in the 2nd half of 2008, and then 2009 was the worst year for the occupancy rate since the Great Depression. The occupancy rate started to improve in the Spring of 2010, and was above the 2008 rates later in the year.

The occupancy rate was fairly low in January and February, but appears to be improving recently.

Data Source: Smith Travel Research, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com