Full-Service Restaurants NAICS 722511

Aug 14, 2025 - Restaurant Job Growth Stalls

• Restaurant industry job growth ground to a halt in June and July, as a rise in people quitting offset hiring activity, the National Restaurant Association reported in August. According to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment levels at eating and drinking places were essentially flat in June (+400 jobs) and July (-300). That followed a 3-month period in which the industry added nearly 68,000 jobs. The number of workers quitting their jobs (aka separations) in recent months has risen. There were 823,000 total separations in the restaurants and accommodations sector in June, the second consecutive month with readings above 800,000, according to the BLS. While the size of the restaurant workforce remains above pre-pandemic levels, the full-service segment remains stuck 228,000 jobs (4%) below February 2022 levels.
• Producer prices for all foods rose 4.7% in June compared to a year ago, after rising 3.6% in the previous June-versus-June annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by full-service restaurants inched up 0.9% year over year in May, while the average industry wage rose 5.5% over the same period to a new high of $21.25 per hour, BLS data show. The industry’s rising labor and food costs are supported by sustained consumer spending, which rose 2.6% YoY and 0.3% month over month in June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

• Full-service breakfast chains Waffle House and Denny’s have removed egg surcharges from their menus that were added earlier this year when prices soared, US News reports. Denny’s eliminated its egg surcharge in May, while Waffle House, which serves up 272 million eggs per year, dropped its 50-cent surcharge in June. Bird flu outbreaks in January and February caused the egg prices to rise to record highs. Since then, wholesale prices have fallen 64% and retail prices have declined by 27% from their peak. Actions taken by the USDA to combat bird flu on poultry farms and egg imports have helped drive down the price of eggs. However, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins warned that the fall could be “potentially challenging” for egg producers as wild birds often spread the avian flu virus during their migrations.
• As demand for hard-to-get reservations has grown, the restaurant industry’s equivalent of ticket scalpers have been scooping up reservations and selling them online, the National Restaurant Association reports. Technology enables individuals and companies to scrape reservations from legitimate restaurant websites or partner reservation sites and then sell them on unauthorized online resale sites and social media, per the NRA. The practice is creating challenges for restaurants, like costly no-shows, staffing needs to manage the expectations of customers who purchase these third-party reservations, and potential damage to their brand. Amid rising frustration from diners and restaurant operators, state governments have begun working with the restaurant industry to create a regulatory framework to fix the system by returning control of reservations to restaurants. A recent survey of diners at full-service restaurants found nearly 2 in 5 were aware of third-party websites that charge for reservations and nearly 15% said they’d paid for a reservation.