U.S. Restaurant and Lodging Job Openings Rose in May :: Hospitality Trends

U.S. Economic Outlook February 2026

Total job openings in the restaurant and lodging sector rose from a revised 714,000 in April to 776,000 in May, rebounding after three consecutive monthly declines. While Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data can be volatile from month to month, the broader trend suggests continued demand for workers. Over the past 12 months, accommodation and foodservices establishments have averaged 843,000 job openings per month, indicating that employers remain actively engaged in hiring despite ongoing economic uncertainty.

At the same time, signs of labor market normalization have become more apparent. From 2017 to 2019, the sector averaged 835,000 job openings per month, placing current levels close to pre-pandemic norms. This suggests the labor market has largely stabilized following the exceptionally elevated demand for workers seen in the years immediately after the pandemic.

Hiring activity also strengthened in May, increasing from 813,000 in April to 839,000. Separations rose as well, from 797,000 to 816,000. Even so, net hiring (hires minus separations) totaled 23,000, marking the third consecutive month of positive job growth in the sector.

Looking at longer-term trends, the restaurant and lodging sector averaged 895,000 hires and 875,000 separations per month from 2017 to 2019. Over the past year, those averages have declined to 825,000 hires and 798,000 separations. Taken together, these figures point to a labor market that remains healthy but continues to gradually cool, consistent with broader signs of easing across the economy.

Total quits in the labor market ticked higher in May but have largely eased in recent months relative to what was experienced at the end of 2025. The number of people quitting their jobs in the accommodations and foodservice industry totaled 611,000 in May, up from 574,000 in April. Likewise, quits for all nonfarm sectors increased slightly from 3.043 million to 3.065 million.

Recent data have been consistent with the transition from the “Great Resignation” prevalent a few years ago to the current “Great Stay” period, which has been closer to pre-pandemic trends. For comparison, quits averaged 4.22 million for nonfarm payrolls and 787,000 for restaurants and lodging in 2022, when the labor market was historically tight and businesses struggled to find sufficient workers. Over the past 12 months, quits averaged roughly 3.10 million and 612,000, respectively.

With that said, the quit rate for accommodations and foodservices have been more elevated than one might expect during the “Great Stay” period. Workers do not typically quit their jobs during times of economic uncertainty, and yet, the quit rate in the sector has averaged a somewhat elevated 4.3% over the past 12 months, peaking out at 5.5% in June of last year.

Overall, U.S. nonfarm business job openings were vitually unchanged, edging up from 7.585 million in April to 7.594 million in May, a 2-year high. At the same time, there were 7.31 million unemployed individuals in May. This marked the second straight month since June 2025 that job openings exceeded the number of unemployed workers, with a gap of 287,000 and roughly 0.96 unemployed individuals per job opening.

Even so, restaurant operators continue to report an easing in hiring challenges, particularly compared with conditions three years ago. For context, the labor market was significantly tighter in July 2022, when job openings outnumbered unemployed individuals by roughly two to one. At that point, there were just 49.7 unemployed workers per 100 job openings, with openings exceeding job seekers by more than 5.84 million.