Job Growth in U.S. Restaurants and Bars Slowed Significantly in February

Months of historic levels of job growth tapered off significantly in February, according to the latest economic report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In restaurants and bars, there were just 1,600 jobs added this month, compared to 36,600 jobs added in January and 40,000 jobs added last December. Overall, there were 20,000 jobs added to the entire U.S. labor force in February, a stark drop from the estimated 172,000 jobs that analysts were expecting to see added, according to MarketWatch. “One poor report should not set off alarm bells, but given that the labor market is the linchpin for the entire economy, it does add to existing concerns and raises the stakes for next month’s report,” Curt Long, chief economist at National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, told MarketWatch. Labor Pressures Restaurants in the U.S. have been grappling with the effects of the rising minimum wage in many cities across the country, as well as extremely high