U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Industries at a Glance

Food Services and Drinking Places: NAICS 722

About the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector

The food services and drinking places subsector is part of the accommodation and food services sector.

Industries in the Food Services and Drinking Places subsector prepare meals, snacks, and beverages to customer order for immediate on-premises and off-premises consumption. There is a wide range of establishments in these industries. Some provide food and drink only; while others provide various combinations of seating space, waiter/waitress services and incidental amenities, such as limited entertainment. The industries in the subsector are grouped based on the type and level of services provided. The industry groups are full-service restaurants; limited-service eating places; special food services, such as food service contractors, caterers, and mobile food services; and drinking places.

North American Industry Classification System

The food services and drinking places subsector consists of these industry groups:

Full-Service Restaurants: NAICS 7221
Limited-Service Eating Places: NAICS 7222
Special Food Services: NAICS 7223
Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages): NAICS 7224

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in food services and drinking places. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, union membership and representation, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs


Data series	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012	Apr. 2012
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	9,776.7	9,811.8	(P) 9,847.3	(P) 9,867.0
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	8,348.8	8,443.0	(P) 8,618.2
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	12.5%	11.6%	10.7%	9.7%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events	72	29	89	71
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits	5,354	3,321	13,001	10,375
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	2008	2009	2010	2011
Union membership and representation
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	1.5%	1.3%	1.1%	1.2%
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)	1.8%	1.8%	1.3%	1.5%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Extended Mass Layoffs


Data series	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011	4th quarter 2011	1st quarter 2012
Extended mass layoff events	156	63	(P) 66	(P) 38
Separations	35,509	11,582	(P) 12,752	(P) 5,365
Initial claimants	37,148	10,758	(P) 13,109	(P) 4,640
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2011
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	2,334,020
Cooks, fast food	480,180
Cooks, restaurant	839,540
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	602,070
Waiters and waitresses	1,996,830

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for food services and drinking places.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours, as well as weekly earnings by union membership status, are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in food services and drinking places.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees


Data series	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012
Average hourly earnings	$11.91	$11.86	$11.91	(P) $11.89
Average weekly hours	25.2	25.2	25.3	(P) 25.5
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Dec. 2011	Jan. 2012	Feb. 2012	Mar. 2012
Average hourly earnings	$10.52	$10.47	$10.56	(P) $10.58
Average weekly hours	23.9	23.9	24.2	(P) 24.4
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation


Data series	Back data	Median weekly earnings
Data series	Back data	2008	2009	2010	2011
Union membership and representation
Full-time workers		$417	$412	$417	$427
Members of unions		$497	$424	$517	$585
Represented by unions		$491	$423	$509	$592
Nonunion		$416	$412	$416	$424

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2011
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food	$8.69	$8.76	$18,070	$18,210
Cooks, fast food	$8.79	$8.98	$18,290	$18,670
Cooks, restaurant	$10.45	$11.05	$21,740	$22,990
First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers	$13.75	$14.98	$28,610	$31,160
Waiters and waitresses	$8.90	$9.89	$18,510	$20,580

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in food services and drinking places. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.


Data series	2007	2008	2009	2010
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	131	120	119	122
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	4.1	3.7	3.4	3.3
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.3
Cases involving days away from work	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.9
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in food services and drinking places. Also included in this section is information on productivity, presented as the rate of change in output per hour of workers in the industry.

Establishments


Data series	4th quarter 2010	1st quarter 2011	2nd quarter 2011	3rd quarter 2011
Number of establishments
Private industry	561,021	(P) 560,020	(P) 564,537	(P) 569,593
Local government	593	(P) 604	(P) 600	(P) 593
State government	1	(P) 1	(P) 1	(P) 1
Federal government	256	(P) 250	(P) 248	(P) 244
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity


Data series	2007	2008	2009	2010
Labor productivity index, output per hour	105.932	104.836	105.113	107.078
Percent change from previous year	-0.1	-1.0	0.3	1.9
Labor index, total labor hours	110.450	109.786	105.654	105.052
Percent change from previous year	1.7	-0.6	-3.8	-0.6
Output index	117.002	115.094	111.056	112.488
Percent change from previous year	1.6	-1.6	-3.5	1.3
Unit labor costs index	112.156	117.104	119.043	121.003
Percent change from previous year	4.8	4.4	1.7	1.6