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The National Restaurant Association released a new report stating that 90,000 restaurants in the U.S. either have closed permanently or long-term. (See our previous articles on this subject: “RESTAURANT INDUSTRY; MORE SHUTDOWNS, MORE BANKRUPTCIES” and “LOCKDOWN DIVIDES RESTAURANT INDUSTRY.”)
A Bloomberg report noted the number of closures is lower than the 110,000 the industry was bracing for in late 2020. The report said industry experts credited the Paycheck Protection Program and newly-eased restrictions for playing a major role in preventing an outright disaster.
These restaurants do face challenges, and the industry is down 1.7 million jobs. The Bloomberg report said in NYC alone, 5,000 of the city’s 24,000 restaurants are closed.
The California legislative committee reported last Tuesday that about one-third of the restaurants in the state closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. ABC 7 reported the Employment Development Department said the industry’s employment is currently down 25 percent from before the media and politicians launched the COVID War.
The report said many restaurants in the state recently have seen demand increase, but they lack the workforce, as many former workers are making more collecting unemployment, and others have since sought “more stable career paths.”