Research
February 07, 2025
Total restaurant industry jobs
Restaurants lost 16k jobs in January
Restaurant employment trended lower to start the year, which interupted a steady upward trend in staffing levels during the second half of 2024.
Payrolls at eating and drinking places* shrunk by a net 15,700 jobs in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That followed a healthy increase of nearly 46,000 jobs in December.
In total during the second half of 2024, eating and drinking places added a net 148,000 jobs. That was a solid improvement from the net decline of 11,000 jobs during the first 6 months of 2024.
With the release of the January employment data, BLS incorporated their annual benchmark revisions. This process benchmarks the monthly establishment survey data to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which counts jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax system.
In addition to revising the month-to-month changes, this resulted in a downward shift in overall eating and drinking place employment levels for both 2023 and 2024. The net result is that the January 2025 employment reading at eating and drinking places was somewhat closer to the February 2020 pre-pandemic level.
As of January 2025, eating and drinking places were 72,000 jobs (or 0.6%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment down 233k jobs from pre-pandemic level
Within the restaurant industry, the benchmark revisions had the largest impact on the combined quickservice and fast casual segment. As of December 2024, employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 113,000 jobs (or 2.5%) above pre-pandemic levels. Before the revisions, this segment was 163,000 jobs above the February 2020 level.
The fullservice segment also saw downward revisions in staffing counts. As of December 2024, fullservice restaurant employment levels were 233,000 jobs (or 4.1%) below pre-pandemic readings. Prior to the revisions, the fullservice segment was within 212,000 jobs of its February 2020 level.
The coffee and snack segment continues to be the strongest performer in terms of job growth. As of December 2024, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was nearly 167,000 jobs (or 21%) above February 2020 readings.
Staffing levels at bars and taverns were 3,000 jobs (or 1%) above the pre-pandemic peak. This represented a downward revision from preliminary readings.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so November is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
Although restaurant employment trended higher on the national level in 2024, job growth remained uneven across the states. As of December 2024, 22 states had fewer eating and drinking place jobs than they did in December 2019.
This group was led by Maryland, which had 8% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in December 2024 than it did in December 2019. Maine (-7%), Vermont (-6%), Louisiana (-6%), Oregon (-6%) and North Dakota (-6%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
As of December 2024, eating and drinking place employment levels in 28 states and the District of Columbia were above their comparable pre-pandemic readings in December 2019. This group was led by Nevada (+13%), Utah (+11%), Montana (+11%) and Oklahoma (+11%).
View the latest employment data for every state.
[Note that the state-level analysis uses December 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
*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.
Payrolls at eating and drinking places* shrunk by a net 15,700 jobs in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That followed a healthy increase of nearly 46,000 jobs in December.
In total during the second half of 2024, eating and drinking places added a net 148,000 jobs. That was a solid improvement from the net decline of 11,000 jobs during the first 6 months of 2024.
With the release of the January employment data, BLS incorporated their annual benchmark revisions. This process benchmarks the monthly establishment survey data to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which counts jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax system.
In addition to revising the month-to-month changes, this resulted in a downward shift in overall eating and drinking place employment levels for both 2023 and 2024. The net result is that the January 2025 employment reading at eating and drinking places was somewhat closer to the February 2020 pre-pandemic level.
As of January 2025, eating and drinking places were 72,000 jobs (or 0.6%) above their February 2020 employment peak.
Fullservice segment down 233k jobs from pre-pandemic level
Within the restaurant industry, the benchmark revisions had the largest impact on the combined quickservice and fast casual segment. As of December 2024, employee counts at quickservice and fast casual restaurants were 113,000 jobs (or 2.5%) above pre-pandemic levels. Before the revisions, this segment was 163,000 jobs above the February 2020 level.
The fullservice segment also saw downward revisions in staffing counts. As of December 2024, fullservice restaurant employment levels were 233,000 jobs (or 4.1%) below pre-pandemic readings. Prior to the revisions, the fullservice segment was within 212,000 jobs of its February 2020 level.
The coffee and snack segment continues to be the strongest performer in terms of job growth. As of December 2024, employment at snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars – including coffee, donut and ice cream shops – was nearly 167,000 jobs (or 21%) above February 2020 readings.
Staffing levels at bars and taverns were 3,000 jobs (or 1%) above the pre-pandemic peak. This represented a downward revision from preliminary readings.
[Note that the segment-level employment figures are lagged by one month, so November is the most current data available.]
Restaurant job growth uneven across states
Although restaurant employment trended higher on the national level in 2024, job growth remained uneven across the states. As of December 2024, 22 states had fewer eating and drinking place jobs than they did in December 2019.
This group was led by Maryland, which had 8% fewer eating and drinking place jobs in December 2024 than it did in December 2019. Maine (-7%), Vermont (-6%), Louisiana (-6%), Oregon (-6%) and North Dakota (-6%) were also well below their pre-pandemic restaurant employment levels.
As of December 2024, eating and drinking place employment levels in 28 states and the District of Columbia were above their comparable pre-pandemic readings in December 2019. This group was led by Nevada (+13%), Utah (+11%), Montana (+11%) and Oklahoma (+11%).
View the latest employment data for every state.
[Note that the state-level analysis uses December 2019 as the pre-pandemic comparison instead of February 2020, because seasonally-adjusted employment figures are not available for every state.]
*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.