A masked waiter outside the Da Gennaro rest restaurant rent in Little Italy on November 15, 2020 in New York City.
Alexei Rosenfeld | Getty Images
New restrictions to fight the coronavirus epidemic led to the loss of jobs in the restaurant industry for the first time since April due to weight loss in food and beverages sold at drinking venues.
The rise in new Covid-19 cases in November was on overall job growth, which slowed to its lowest rate since May. Unemployment fell to 6.7% from 6.9%, according to a report by the Department of Monthly Labor. Food and beverage outlets lost 17,400 jobs in November and the industry unemployment rate is 13.8%.
But the rise in infection is hitting the restaurant industry particularly hard. This fall, states and municipalities across the country began imposing a second round of bans on bars and snacks after reopening indoor dining and expansion capacity during the summer months.
Reduced capacity or full lifting and delivery means fewer workers are needed in the kitchen or serving food.
For example, Los Angeles County has closed restaurants for all personal meals inside or outside the home. The state said Thursday it could re-order home-to-home orders if the hospital’s capacity is limited. Delaware imposed new bans on restaurants in mid-November, but a stay-at-home order was issued on Thursday as the case progressed.
Across the country, the daily seven-day average of new covid cases has risen to more than 179,400, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University – the highest ever. This week, horrific records have been set for the number of patients in hospitals and the number of people dying from covid in the US.
And while some customers would have been willing to dine at restaurants when the number of cove cases was low, the new boom, coupled with the cold weather, is affecting customer traffic. Black B Intelligence, which tracks restaurant data, found that the industry’s similar store traffic fell 16.3% in November. Sales at the same store fell 10.3%, the biggest drop since August Gust.
In the fast-food sector, there is also a new boom in summer rental cases, although unemployment data is aligned accordingly. McDonald’s said it will hire 260,000 people this summer as it reopens its dining rooms.
Industry experts are expecting a new wave of restaurant closures and bankruptcy this winter, which will further reduce the number of restaurant jobs available. However, negotiations for a second stimulus package have resumed on Capitol Hill, giving relief to restaurants and their working employees. Earlier this week, President-elect Joe Biden said restaurants should be given grants, not loans, to help them recover from the crisis, echoing sentiment echoed by Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin.
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