For the first time in four months, restaurant employment posted a sizable gain, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In comparison, the overall economy lost jobs for the third consecutive month in August.
Eating and drinking places, which represent about three-fourths of the restaurant and foodservice workforce, added 12,200 jobs in August. They lost 11,000 jobs in the previous three months. Despite the August gain, the industry remains nearly 224,000 jobs – or 2.3 percent – below its pre-recession peak.
Because of the continued elimination of temporary Census-worker positions, U.S. employment declined for the third straight month in August. The economy lost a net 54,000 jobs, which matched the decline in July. However, the private sector within the U.S. economy is on an upward employment employment trend. It added 67,000 jobs in August, in addition to 107,000 in July.
“Significant job growth is the key component lacking from this economic recovery,” said Bruce Grindy, the National Restaurant Association’s chief economist. “Gains in restaurant and private sector employment are encouraging, but we need to see improvement in the overall employment situation before we can view the recession in the rearview mirror. Consumers’ personal disposable income and need for convenience are closely tied to employment, and in turn to restaurant industry sales.”
The restaurant industry is the nation’s second largest private-sector employer with 12.7 million employees. In the next decade, the industry is expected to add more than a million positions, according to National Restaurant Association research.
According to BLS, staffing trends in the major restaurant industry segments remain mixed. Fullservice jobs rose 0.1 percent rate in the 12 months ending July 2010, while quickservice employment was unchanged.
Although overall hours didn't change in July, the average workweek of restaurant industry employees is on pace to decline for the fifth consecutive year. The average weekly hours worked by non-supervisory employees at eating and drinking places stood at 24.3 in July 2010 – matching the average employee workweek in July 2009.
Wage growth of non-supervisory restaurant employees outpaced the overall private sector in recent months, at 3 percent, That was nearly a full percentage higher than the 2.1 percent gain in the private sector.
Additional data and analysis of the trends and statistics that affect the restaurant business can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper, the NRA’s subscription service of real-time research.
