LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Super Bowl's return to the Los Angeles area after a nearly 30-year absence is providing a much-needed boost to small businesses hard hit by the pandemic.

Sunday's game and the events surrounding it are projected to generate up to $477 million for the local economy. That includes up to $22 million in tax revenue and between 2,200 to 4,700 new jobs.

Many of the projected new jobs are expected to be in the event production and hospitality sectors - among the hardest hit by the pandemic. The region’s unemployment rate surged to 18.8% in May 2020 in the first months of the pandemic.

Hiring has picked up since, as pandemic lockdowns eased. As of December 2021, the county’s unemployment rate was 6.2%.