Restaurant job development settled again right into a uneven trendline, as sharp downward revisions modified the earlier narrative of a powerful third quarter.
Consuming and consuming locations* added a web 3,700 jobs in October on a seasonally-adjusted foundation, in keeping with preliminary knowledge from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That was nicely beneath the rise of practically 40,000 jobs in September – a studying that was practically lower in half from final month’s preliminary report.
August job development was additionally revised considerably decrease – from 37,500 to simply 2,300. Taken collectively, the downward revisions in August and September resulted in 65,000 fewer jobs on restaurant payrolls.
Wanting previous the uneven month-to-month readings, the trendline of restaurant employment stays usually constructive. As of October 2024, consuming and consuming locations had been practically 118,000 jobs (or 1.0%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice section nonetheless down 234k jobs
Whereas the general restaurant business surpassed pre-pandemic employment ranges, important variations nonetheless exist by section.
The fullservice section skilled probably the most job losses throughout the preliminary months of the pandemic – and it nonetheless has the longest path to restoration. As of September 2024, fullservice restaurant employment ranges had been 234,000 jobs (or 4%) beneath pre-pandemic readings in February 2020.
Employment counts within the cafeterias/grill buffets/buffets section (-33%) additionally remained beneath their February 2020 ranges.
Job losses within the limited-service segments had been considerably much less extreme throughout the preliminary months of the pandemic, as these operations had been extra prone to retain employees to help their present off-premises enterprise. As of September 2024, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – together with espresso, donut and ice cream outlets – was 137,000 jobs (or 17%) above February 2020 readings.
Staffing ranges within the quickservice and quick informal segments had been 156,000 jobs (or 3%) above pre-pandemic ranges. Headcounts at bars and taverns had been 35,000 jobs (or 8%) above the pre-pandemic peak.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so September is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job development varies throughout the states
Restaurant employment trended larger in latest months, however the extent of the business’s workforce restoration varies considerably by state. As of September 2024, 21 states and the District of Columbia had fewer consuming and consuming place jobs than they did in September 2019.
This group was led by Louisiana, which had 9% fewer consuming and consuming place jobs in September 2024 than it did in September 2019. Maryland (-6%), Hawaii (-5%), Oregon (-5%), Illinois (-5%), Vermont (-5%) and North Dakota (-5%) and had been additionally nicely beneath their pre-pandemic restaurant employment ranges.
As of September 2024, consuming and consuming place employment in 29 states surpassed their comparable pre-pandemic readings in September 2019. This group was led by Nevada (+12%), South Dakota (+12%), Utah (+12%) and Montana (+11%).
View the newest employment data for each state.
[Note that the state-level analysis uses September 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
*Consuming and consuming locations are the first element of the entire restaurant and foodservice business, offering jobs for roughly 80% of the entire restaurant and foodservice workforce of 15.5 million.
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