Restaurant industry sales nationwide were expected to reach almost $783 billion in 2016, while restaurant sales in Arkansas last year were projected at $4.3 billion, according to the National Restaurant Association.
The restaurant and food service industry employed 14.4 million people in the United States last year, about 10 percent of the nation’s workforce. In Arkansas, the sector employed 119,300 in 2016, about 11 percent of the jobs in the state, the association said.
In addition:
- Half of all adults have worked in the restaurant industry at some point during their lives.
- 1 in 3 Americans got their first job experience in a restaurant.
- 8 in 10 restaurant owners say their first job in the industry was an entry-level position.
- 9 in 10 restaurant managers started in entry-level positions.
- 56 percent of first-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and service workers in 2014 were women, 15 percent were black or African-American and 21 percent were of Hispanic origin.
- The number of women-owned restaurant businesses increased 40 percent between 2007 and 2012 — well above the 12 percent increase in all restaurant businesses.
- The number of Hispanic-owned restaurant businesses jumped 51 percent between 2007 and 2012. Black- or African-American-owned restaurants increased 49 percent.