You can’t tell the industry is challenged by looking at employment numbers.
The restaurant industry continued its generally healthy pace of hiring in December, according to new federal data released on Friday. Restaurants and bars added 27,200 jobs in the month and now employ more than 12.5 million workers.
The industry has added more than 150,000 jobs over the past year, which may not seem like much but considering that many restaurants are struggling with weak traffic, sales and profitability. The industry has added 34,000 jobs over the past two months, according to U.S. Department of Labor data.
The restaurant industry’s hiring was a rare bright spot in a generally weak December jobs report.
The economy added just 50,000 jobs in the month, continuing a tepid rate of employment growth. The unemployment rate was 4.4%. Restaurants and bars effectively accounted for more than one out of every two jobs created that month.
That is a mixed blessing for restaurants, which rely on a healthy economy full of spending consumers with good paychecks. A weak level of hiring might keep consumers from dining out with the frequency that the industry is hoping for, particularly after two years of traffic challenges.
Yet it also makes hiring and retention that much easier.
For my @McDonalds:
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee) January 9, 2026
My retention is at an all-time high, and my turnover is at an all-time low. Very strong application stream. Wage growth is manageable.
Things ebb and flow in a restaurant whether it’s sales, staffing, or commodities. But in terms of staffing, this is… https://t.co/sKN8Hpl1Hb
The restaurant hiring in December has also come as operators add more technology than ever, including drive-thru voice-activated AI, kiosks and some robotics, all of which has been designed to enable restaurants to operate with fewer people.
That technology may or may not be slowing job growth in the industry, but it is not stopping it.
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