The swarm of Cicadas have not deterred patrons and guests from coming back to their favorite venues and restaurants. Mass vaccination, mild weather, and pent up demand have pushed people to spend more on restaurants and bars, according to womply.com spending at restaurants and bars is up significantly at a sustain level, consumption for the last two months have been almost double of what it was before the pandemic (below), an almost every state is experiencing increases in the last 7 days helped by Memorial day. However the spending on restaurants is up thanks to patrons spending more per visit not because more restaurants are “back to normal.”

The increase in spending in the restaurant business has not translated in an overall increase in economic activity, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the number of individuals employed in leisure and hospitality is not back to before pandemic levels. This would explain why wages have not increased in the sector and restaurant owners are refusing to increase wages in a significant way since they know there are still employees available, however disengaged by right now.

Summer promises to raise the sector even higher, however there are challenges with regard with employees coming back to their existing jobs as more employees become disengaged and discouraged, mainly by the uncertainty produced by school closings, supply chain disruptions, or simple disruption of services.