Research
May 08, 2026
Total restaurant industry jobs
Restaurant job growth was choppy in recent months
Job growth in the restaurant industry was uneven in recent months, but the trendline continues to point in a generally positive direction.
Eating and drinking places added a net 17,200 jobs in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That followed a downward-revised gain of 11,500 jobs in March.
While April represented the second consecutive monthly increase, the combined gain of the last two months was not enough to overcome the 38,800 jobs that were shed in February (numbers that were also revised lower).
February’s employment decline was the largest since December 2020 (-367,300), when the economy went back into another pandemic lockdown. It’s still likely that a portion of February’s job losses were spillover effects from the late-January winter storms, as overall employment in the economy was also revised downward.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2026, restaurant operators will likely continue to balance staffing levels with business conditions. If gas prices remain elevated for an extended period of time, it could erode consumers’ capacity to spend in discretionary areas like restaurants.
At this point, the expectation is that restaurant sales and staffing levels will continue to rise – albeit at a somewhat measured pace. Trends will not be uniform across the industry though, and will be highly dependent on the composition of each individual restaurant’s customer base.
With job growth remaining choppy in recent months, restaurant staffing levels haven’t advanced much further above their pre-pandemic readings. As of April 2026, eating and drinking places were still just 71,400 jobs (or 0.6%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment remains nearly 200k jobs below pre-pandemic levels
The fullservice segment lost nearly 3.7 million jobs during the first two months of the pandemic, and it has yet to fully recover. As of March 2026, fullservice restaurant employment was still 193,000 jobs (or 3.4%) below pre-pandemic readings.
However, fullservice restaurants expanded payrolls at a healthy rate in recent months, after lagging behind for much of the post-pandemic expansion. The fullservice segment added a net 97,000 jobs between March 2025 and March 2026. In comparison, the three limited-service segments added combined 67,000 jobs during that same period.
Despite the slower growth in recent months, limited-service employment levels stand well above their pre-pandemic readings. As of March 2026, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was 205,000 jobs (or 25%) above March 2020 levels.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 74,000 jobs (or 1.6%) above pre-pandemic levels.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so March 2026 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
More than 5 years after the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., restaurant staffing levels remain below pre-pandemic readings in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
This group was led by West Virginia, which had nearly 6% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025 than it did in the fourth quarter of 2019. Maine (-5%), New Mexico (-5%), Massachusetts (-4%) and Illinois (-4%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
In contrast, restaurant employment in several of the mountain states has climbed well beyond pre-pandemic levels. This group is led by Idaho (+20%), Utah (+14%) and Nevada (+13%).
[Note that the state-level analysis uses 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
View the latest employment data for every state.
Note: Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.
Eating and drinking places added a net 17,200 jobs in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That followed a downward-revised gain of 11,500 jobs in March.
While April represented the second consecutive monthly increase, the combined gain of the last two months was not enough to overcome the 38,800 jobs that were shed in February (numbers that were also revised lower).
February’s employment decline was the largest since December 2020 (-367,300), when the economy went back into another pandemic lockdown. It’s still likely that a portion of February’s job losses were spillover effects from the late-January winter storms, as overall employment in the economy was also revised downward.
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2026, restaurant operators will likely continue to balance staffing levels with business conditions. If gas prices remain elevated for an extended period of time, it could erode consumers’ capacity to spend in discretionary areas like restaurants.
At this point, the expectation is that restaurant sales and staffing levels will continue to rise – albeit at a somewhat measured pace. Trends will not be uniform across the industry though, and will be highly dependent on the composition of each individual restaurant’s customer base.
With job growth remaining choppy in recent months, restaurant staffing levels haven’t advanced much further above their pre-pandemic readings. As of April 2026, eating and drinking places were still just 71,400 jobs (or 0.6%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment remains nearly 200k jobs below pre-pandemic levels
The fullservice segment lost nearly 3.7 million jobs during the first two months of the pandemic, and it has yet to fully recover. As of March 2026, fullservice restaurant employment was still 193,000 jobs (or 3.4%) below pre-pandemic readings.
However, fullservice restaurants expanded payrolls at a healthy rate in recent months, after lagging behind for much of the post-pandemic expansion. The fullservice segment added a net 97,000 jobs between March 2025 and March 2026. In comparison, the three limited-service segments added combined 67,000 jobs during that same period.
Despite the slower growth in recent months, limited-service employment levels stand well above their pre-pandemic readings. As of March 2026, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was 205,000 jobs (or 25%) above March 2020 levels.
Employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 74,000 jobs (or 1.6%) above pre-pandemic levels.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so March 2026 is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
More than 5 years after the onset of the pandemic in the U.S., restaurant staffing levels remain below pre-pandemic readings in 18 states and the District of Columbia.
This group was led by West Virginia, which had nearly 6% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025 than it did in the fourth quarter of 2019. Maine (-5%), New Mexico (-5%), Massachusetts (-4%) and Illinois (-4%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
In contrast, restaurant employment in several of the mountain states has climbed well beyond pre-pandemic levels. This group is led by Idaho (+20%), Utah (+14%) and Nevada (+13%).
[Note that the state-level analysis uses 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
View the latest employment data for every state.
Note: Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, providing jobs for roughly 80% of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of more than 15.7 million.
Track more economic indicators and read more analysis and commentary from the Association's economists.