In connection with the continued growth of the habits of “dining out” more regularly, the restaurant and other various food industries have continued their expansion. TheNational Restaurant Association‘s Chief Economist Bruce Grindy breaks down the latest employment trends,”The national labor market continued to heat up in June, with restaurants remaining among the strongest growth sectors. According to preliminary figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national economy added a net 288,000 jobs in June on a seasonally-adjusted basis.”
This is the second month this year that over 200,000 jobs have been added to the nation. In fact, during the first half of the year 2014, nearly 1.4 million jobs have been added. The emergence of a bold job growth is the strongest that the United State’s economy has seen in, according to Grindy, eight years.
With restaurants guiding the way towards the largest job growth, the restaurant industry is “up 3.1 percent on a year-to-date basis through June 2014, nearly double the 1.7 percent gain in total U.S. employment.”
Job growth within the restaurant industry has been broad-based in 2014, just as it has been throughout the post-recession period. On a year-to-date basis through May 2014 (segment-level figures are lagged by one month),quickservicerestaurants added jobs at a strong 4.0 percent rate. This puts thequickservicesegment on pace to post job growth of at least 4 percent for the third consecutive year.
Thefullservicesegment added jobs at a 2.9 percent rate through the first five months of 2014. While this is down somewhat from the consecutive 3.4 percent gains registered in 2012 and 2013,fullserviceemployment gains remain well above job growth in the overall economy.
Meanwhile, the snack and nonalcoholic beverage bar segment which includes concepts such as coffee, donut and ice cream shops added jobs at a robust 6.1 percent rate on a year-to-date basis through May 2014. If this trend continues, it would represent this segment’s strongest growth since 2007, as well as the third consecutive year with employment gains above 5 percent.
Grindy advises us to “Look for these positive growth trends to continue through the remainder of the year, as the restaurant industry continues to benefit from an improving economy and stronger consumer sentiment.”
Posted by Cassandra Fekjar
7/7/2014
