Colorado restaurants are expected to add 10,800 jobs this summer, representing a 5.8 percent gain over the sector’s March employment level, according to projections issued Thursday by the National Restaurant Association.
Nationwide, restaurants are expected to add 450,000 jobs during the summer, representing a 4.6 percent gain and the highest summer employment number in the restaurant industry since 1993, the association said. Last week, Broomfield-based economist Gary Horvath noted that Colorado’s tourism sector, which includes restaurants, has passed the peak employment numbers of 2008.
“That is a good sign because that probably means if restaurants are doing well, people have a little bit more disposable income and they are eating out a little more often,” Horvath said.
Hudson Riehle, the restaurant association’s senior vice president of research, said the restaurant industry employment growth will outpace overall employment growth for the 13th year in a row.
The states projected to add the most summer restaurant jobs are New York, California, Massachusetts and Texas.
