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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
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024
Sep.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

14,245.6 14,280.3 (p)14,322.2 (p)14,398.2

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

12,898.6 12,913.2 (p)12,910.8  

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

5.7% 6.3% 5.9% 5.6%

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

Job openings

806 921 (p)915  

Hires

820 805 (p)801  

Separations

731 837 (p)817  

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

1.6% 1.7% 2.0% 2.1%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

2.1% 2.1% 2.4% 2.4%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2023

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

3,220,260

Cooks, fast food

657,460

Cooks, restaurant

1,323,040

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

250,050

Waiters and waitresses

2,060,240

(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

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$21.02 $20.92 $20.89 (p)$21.00

Average weekly hours

25.8 26.3 25.9 (p)25.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
May
2024
Jun.
2024
Jul.
2024
Aug.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$19.01 $18.90 $18.88 (p)$18.97

Average weekly hours

24.5 24.9 24.5 (p)24.5

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2023
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

14.11 14.29 29,340 29,730

Cooks, fast food

14.05 14.29 29,230 29,720

Cooks, restaurant

17.16 17.27 35,680 35,930

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

14.75 15.61 30,670 32,470

Waiters and waitresses

15.36 17.61 31,940 36,630

(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).

Data series Access Participation
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Private industry

Retirement benefit plans

33 15

Defined benefit plans

1 1

Defined contribution plans

32 14

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series After 1 year of service After 20 years of service
Back
data
2023 Back
data
2023

Mean number of vacation days for private industry workers without consolidated leave plans

5 12

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Data series Back
data
2023

Percent of private industry workers with access to employer-sponsored benefits

Health care

32

Paid vacation

40

Paid sick leave

48

(Source: Employee Benefits in the United States)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024
2nd quarter
2024

Private industry

12-month percent change

Total compensation

4.3% 4.1% 3.1% 3.4%

Wages and salaries

4.4% 4.2% 3.3% 3.6%

3-month percent change

Total compensation

0.5% 0.3% 0.9% 1.6%

Wages and salaries

0.6% 0.4% 1.0% 1.6%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Data series Private industry
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation
Back
data
2nd quarter 2024 Back
data
2nd quarter 2024

Total compensation

18.26 100.0

Wages and salaries

14.93 81.7

Total benefits

3.34 18.3

Insurance

0.62 3.4

Retirement

0.17 1.0

Paid leave

0.49 2.7

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$592 $618 $678 $712

Members of unions

$723 $725 $781 $827

Represented by unions

$723 $735 $803 $830

Nonunion

$589 $615 $675 $709

(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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

188 160 182 219

Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Data series 2022

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

Total recordable cases

2.7

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

1.3

Cases involving days away from work

0.9

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.4

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

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023
4th quarter
2023
1st quarter
2024

Number of establishments

Private industry

778,702 784,847 788,526 (p)793,999

Local government

702 704 706 (p)708

State government

14 14 14 (p)14

Federal government

393 393 393 (p)390

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Total factor productivity (TFP)

1.6 -6.4 11.0 0.1

Output

2.5 -22.2 25.3 8.5

Combined inputs

0.9 -17.0 12.9 8.3

Capital input

-1.0 1.4 0.6 0.3

Labor input

0.8 -21.5 8.8 10.5

Labor productivity, output per hour

1.8 0.8 12.6 -1.1

(Source: Productivity)

 

Data extracted on: October 10, 2024