Restaurant Industry Slow to Recover

Overall jobs growth in the U.S. is slowly grinding to a halt, with September’s numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics highlighting a troubling trend that leaves over 10 million jobs still lost from April’s calamitous crash. The industry undoubtedly hit the hardest has been the restaurant industry, and despite a resurgence of eating and drinking jobs as cities reopen, millions of restaurant workers are still out of job – permanently so for many.

According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the restaurant industry and other related jobs gained grew by 200,300 in September. Under any other circumstances and these numbers would be a fantastic showing of growth and economic optimism. However, in the context of COVID-19 and the restaurant industry’s collapse in April, these numbers continue a downward trend that could show just how long-term unemployment in this sector will last.

Over four million jobs were added back in the months after the historic wave of nearly six million layoffs in April. The recovery, however, has faltered recently, adding roughly 500,000 jobs in the last three months. That leaves an enormous gap of jobs still lost from the fall earlier in the year, and experts are warning that many of these jobs may be permanently lost.