Restaurant Job Openings

Restaurant and lodging job openings surged in May, rising from a revised 727,000 in April to 1,041,000—the strongest reading since October. This surprisingly sharp increase exceeded expectations, as many had anticipated continued softening in the labor market based on recent trends in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Instead, the data offered an encouraging sign of renewed strength in the accommodation and foodservice sector heading into the summer months.

Even so, given the magnitude of May’s jump, it would not be shocking if upcoming data normalize somewhat to levels more in line with recent averages. For reference, job openings in the sector averaged 889,000 in 2024 and 879,000 year to date in 2025.  

Meanwhile, restaurant and lodging hiring also accelerated notably for the third straight month, up from 854,000 in April to 961,000 in May, the highest level since September 2023. At the same time, total separations rose from 787,000 to 842,000, a 16-month high. These data suggest that overall labor market activity in the sector in May, with net hiring of 119,000 in May.
 

One notable factor—potentially helping to explain the sharp rise in both hiring and job openings—is the continued increase in quits within the accommodation and foodservice industry. Quits in the sector have climbed every month so far this year, rising from 615,000 in April to 666,000 in May—the highest since January 2024. While the overall quit rate has cooled notably from the peak levels seen during the “Great Resignation,” this upward trend runs counter to conventional wisdom that people are less likely to leave their jobs when economic uncertainty is high. It also challenges the prevailing narrative of reduced labor market churn in what is now dubbed the “Great Stay.” Quits in the sector now once again exceed the pre-pandemic average of 633,000 recorded from 2017 to 2019.

By contrast, quits across all nonfarm sectors increased more modestly, from 3.22 million in April to 3.29 million in May. The broader U.S. quit level remains just below the pre-pandemic average of 3.34 million, suggesting a return to more typical labor market dynamics.
 

In the broader U.S. economy, nonfarm business job openings improved from 7.40 million in April to 7.77 million in May, the strongest since November. With 7.24 million unemployed individuals in May, this translates to approximately 93.2 unemployed workers for every 100 job openings.

While job openings continue to outnumber active job seekers by 532,000, the gap has narrowed significantly as the labor market has cooled notably over the past couple of years (but up from gaps of 117,000 in March and 229,000 in April). For comparison, the ratio of job openings to unemployed individuals was roughly 2-to-1 in July 2021, with just 49.7 unemployed workers per 100 job openings and a surplus of more than 5.84 million job openings compared to available job seekers.