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

Employment, Unemployment, Layoffs, and Openings, Hires, and Separations

Data series Back
data
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009
Mar.
2009

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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11,356.5 11,323.7 (P) 11,296.2 (P) 11,264.7

Employment, nonsupervisory workers

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9,964.1 9,690.4 (P) 9,695.7  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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9.8% 11.7% 11.8% 11.6%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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199 197 95 115

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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22,312 17,360 8,080 13,090

Job openings, hires, and separations (in thousands)

 

Job openings

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242 235 (P) 243  

Hires

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442 556 (P) 505  

Separations

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545 710 (P) 468  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

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

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
2005 2006 2007 2008

Union membership and representation

 

Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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2.4% 2.4% 2.0% 2.5%

Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers)

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2.8% 2.8% 2.4% 2.8%

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008

Extended mass layoff events

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63 158 (P) 84 (P) 132

Separations

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10,694 36,853 (P) 20,184 (P) 27,019

Initial claimants

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8,772 32,980 (P) 15,856 (P) 22,767

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

2,226,150

Cooks, fast food

531,720

Cooks, restaurant

849,300

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

219,880

Waiters and waitresses

2,189,330

(Source: Occupational Employment 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 for production or nonsupervisory employees, 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 Production Workers

Data series Back
data
Nov.
2008
Dec.
2008
Jan.
2009
Feb.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$10.31 $10.40 $10.41 (P) $10.44

Average weekly hours

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25.2 24.6 24.1 (P) 25.1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Union Membership and Representation

Data series Back
data
Median weekly earnings
2005 2006 2007 2008

Union membership and representation

 

Full-time workers

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$388 $399 $413 $435

Members of unions

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$487 $515 $534 $563

Represented by unions

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$486 $515 $528 $552

Nonunion

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$384 $395 $410 $427

(Source: Current Population Survey)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

$7.76 $8.09 $16,130 $16,820

Cooks, fast food

$8.10 $8.44 $16,850 $17,550

Cooks, restaurant

$10.53 $10.88 $21,890 $22,640

Hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks

$9.34 $9.88 $19,420 $20,550

Waiters and waitresses

$8.00 $9.38 $16,640 $19,500

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Employer Compensation Costs

Data series Back
data
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008
1st quarter
2009

12-month percent change

 

Total compensation

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3.4% 3.1% 3.2% 3.2%

Wages and salaries

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3.7% 3.2% 3.5% 3.4%

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)



Data series Back
data
4th quarter 2008
Compensation component
($ per hour worked)
Percent of total compensation

Compensation costs

 

Total compensation

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11.06 100.0

Wages and salaries

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8.77 79.3

Total benefits

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2.30 20.7

Insurance

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0.57 5.2

Retirement

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0.09 0.8

(Source: Compensation Cost Trends)

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 2004 2005 2006 2007

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

148 138 185 165

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

 

Total recordable cases

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.4

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

1.7 1.7 1.7 1.6

Cases involving days away from work

1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6

(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
4th quarter
2007
1st quarter
2008
2nd quarter
2008
3rd quarter
2008

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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604,930 (P) 605,586 (P) 609,228 (P) 613,232

Local government

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662 (P) 670 (P) 676 (P) 677

State government

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15 (P) 16 (P) 17 (P) 17

Federal government

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293 (P) 283 (P) 283 (P) 282

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

The Editor's Desk

See industry studies in the subject matter index of The Editor's Desk (Current Edition).

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: May 07, 2009