Accommodation and Food Services: NAICS 72
About the Accommodation and Food Services sector
The accommodation and food services sector is part of the leisure and hospitality supersector.
The Accommodation and Food Services sector comprises establishments providing customers with lodging and/or preparing meals, snacks, and beverages for immediate consumption. The sector includes both accommodation and food services establishments because the two activities are often combined at the same establishment.
North American Industry Classification System
The accommodation and food services sector consists of these subsectors:
Workforce Statistics
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in accommodation and food services.
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,
job openings and labor turnover,
union membership and representation,
data for occupations common to the industry,
and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment, Unemployment, and Openings, Hires, and Separations
| Data series |
Back
data |
Dec.
2020 |
Jan.
2021 |
Feb.
2021 |
Mar.
2021 |
Employment (in thousands) |
|
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
11,418.1 |
11,421.0 |
11,771.7 |
11,987.6 |
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees |
|
9,737.4 |
9,490.5 |
9,879.0 |
|
Unemployment |
|
Unemployment rate |
|
16.4% |
15.3% |
12.7% |
12.7% |
Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands) |
|
Job openings |
|
533 |
581 |
757 |
|
Hires |
|
485 |
682 |
852 |
|
Separations |
|
981 |
795 |
566 |
|
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)
Union Membership and Representation
| Data series |
Back
data |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Union membership and representation |
|
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
2.2% |
2.3% |
2.1% |
1.6% |
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
2.6% |
2.7% |
2.6% |
2.1% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Employment by Occupation
| Data series |
Employment,
2020 |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
2,928,760 |
Cooks, fast food |
532,170 |
Cooks, restaurant |
1,040,430 |
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
206,170 |
Waiters and waitresses |
1,791,080 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for accommodation and food services.
(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 accommodation and food services.
This section also contains information on the average cost of benefits paid by employers, as well as recent rates of change in wages and total compensation.
Earnings and Hours of All Employees
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees
(Source: Current Employment Statistics)
Earnings by Occupation
| Data series |
Wages, 2020 |
| Hourly |
Annual |
| Median |
Mean |
Median |
Mean |
Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food |
11.27 |
11.58 |
23,440 |
24,090 |
Cooks, fast food |
11.73 |
11.68 |
24,390 |
24,290 |
Cooks, restaurant |
13.81 |
14.15 |
28,720 |
29,440 |
Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks |
12.20 |
12.87 |
25,370 |
26,760 |
Waiters and waitresses |
11.32 |
13.20 |
23,540 |
27,460 |
(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)
Employee Benefits
This section presents data on the incidence (the percentage of workers with access to and participation in employer-provided benefit plans) and provisions of selected employee benefits from the National Compensation Survey. More Benefits estimates are also accessible from the Benefits database, the archived NCS publications page, and the complete Employee Benefits Excel dataset (XLSX).
(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)
(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)
(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)
Employer Compensation Costs
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)
Union Membership and Representation
(Source: Current Population Survey)
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 accommodation and food services. 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 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
Fatalities |
|
Number of fatalities |
202 |
172 |
176 |
188 |
|
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.
|
(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)
Workplace Trends
This section presents data on the number of establishments in accommodation and food services.
Establishments
(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)
Data extracted on:
April 13, 2021
United States Department of Labor
