WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The restaurant industry has been hiring for last four months, suggesting the U.S. jobless recovery may have some job gains after all.
Since August, the restaurant business, which includes everything from McDonald's and corner bars to four-star restaurants, has accounted for 18 percent of the 300,000 jobs created in the nation, the New York Times reported.
During the recession of the early 1990's, hiring began to increase in the restaurant industry about six months before job creation began.
"Things appear to be picking up," said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research based in Washington.
"But given their continuing caution about labor costs, employers are more likely to hire low-wage workers, including restaurant workers, than they would be to commit to a permanent hire in the manufacturing industry or the white-collar sector."
The U.S. restaurant business accounts for $420 billion in annual sales or 6.6 percent of economic activity and has 11.7 million workers, according to the National Restaurant Association.
While wages are relatively low for restaurant workers, even those flipping burgers pay above the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.
