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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, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024
Feb.
2024

Employment (in thousands)

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

12,286.7 12,292.2 (p)12,280.5 (p)12,322.1

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

10,762.1 10,722.4 (p)10,444.6  

Unemployment

Unemployment rate

5.3% 4.7% 5.8% 4.9%

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population 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)

1.2% 1.2% 1.4% 1.4%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

1.5% 1.6% 1.7% 1.6%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2022

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

2,884,270

Cooks, fast food

707,660

Cooks, restaurant

1,175,470

First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers

974,260

Waiters and waitresses

1,859,020

(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 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 Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$20.00 $20.04 $20.28 (p)$20.13

Average weekly hours

25.4 25.0 25.1 (p)24.3

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2023
Nov.
2023
Dec.
2023
Jan.
2024

Average hourly earnings

$18.20 $18.27 $18.40 (p)$18.10

Average weekly hours

24.1 23.6 23.8 (p)22.8

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2020 2021 2022 2023

Union membership and representation

Full-time workers

$582 $609 $668 $701

Members of unions

$690 $709 $791 $756

Represented by unions

$660 $725 $812 $753

Nonunion

$580 $607 $665 $700

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2022
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

13.31 13.30 27,690 27,670

Cooks, fast food

13.28 13.40 27,620 27,870

Cooks, restaurant

16.21 16.12 33,720 33,530

First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers

17.52 19.24 36,450 40,030

Waiters and waitresses

13.97 15.87 29,050 33,020

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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 2019 2020 2021 2022

Fatalities

Number of fatalities

151 127 128 171

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

2.4

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

1.1

Cases involving days away from work

0.8

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.3

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 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 Back
data
4th quarter
2022
1st quarter
2023
2nd quarter
2023
3rd quarter
2023

Number of establishments

Private industry

693,068 (p)695,674 (p)702,898 (p)708,414

Local government

522 (p)521 (p)519 (p)520

State government

4 (p)4 (p)4 (p)4

Federal government

186 (p)186 (p)185 (p)185

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

Data series Back
data
2019 2020 2021 2022

Labor productivity index, output per hour

104.325 106.781 117.999 118.339

Percent change from previous year

2.0 2.4 10.5 0.3

Labor index, total labor hours

118.667 94.925 105.392 113.579

Percent change from previous year

0.7 -20.0 11.0 7.8

Output index

123.799 101.362 124.361 134.408

Percent change from previous year

2.7 -18.1 22.7 8.1

Unit labor costs index

116.209 114.880 117.034 126.117

Percent change from previous year

1.2 -1.1 1.9 7.8

(Source: Productivity and Costs)

 

Data extracted on: March 15, 2024