Restaurant employment remains dampened in most states
Eating and drinking places* added a net 123,700 jobs in February, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. February represented the 14th consecutive month of gains, but still left the industry more than 800,000 jobs below its pre-pandemic employment peak.
On the state level, job-gainers outnumbered job-losers by a significant margin in February. Forty-five states added restaurant jobs between January and February, while only 4 states and the District of Columbia saw employment levels decline. Restaurant employment in Ohio was unchanged between January and February.
California led the way with a net gain of 35,200 eating and drinking place jobs in February. Texas (24,000), Florida (16,900) and New York (11,500) also posted solid employment gains in February.
Although nearly every state added restaurant jobs in February, overall staffing levels remained dampened across most of the country. Only 7 states – Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Texas, Montana, Idaho and Mississippi – have seen restaurant employment return to pre-pandemic levels.
In 8 states and the District of Columbia, restaurant employment was still down more than 10% from the February 2020 level. This group was led by the District of Columbia, which had 21% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in February 2022 than it did in February 2020. Maryland (-13%), Hawaii (-13%) and Delaware (-12%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
As of February 2022, California still had 102,500 fewer eating and drinking place jobs than it did in February 2020. Restaurant staffing levels were also well below pre-pandemic readings in New York (-74,400), Illinois (-47,300) and Pennsylvania (-46,400).
*Eating and drinking places are the primary component of the total restaurant and foodservice industry, which prior the coronavirus outbreak employed 12 million out of the total restaurant and foodservice workforce of 15.6 million.
Read more analysis and commentary from the Association's chief economist Bruce Grindy.