Arizona Tops the Country on Restaurant Job Growth

Turns out, Arizona’s food industry is booming, and stands above the rest nationally.

That’s according to a new report by the National Restaurant Association, which projects sales at Arizona restaurants to go up six percent this year, putting us within the top five states in the country. The national average stands at five percent for expected sales growth.

Restaurant and food service jobs make up 12 percent of employment in Arizona, and in ten years it is projected to grow by 18.9 percent.

Experts say these numbers can be greatly attributed to a lot of places hiring teens, giving them their very first job. Still, they say this could mean good news for Arizona’s culinary reputation, further drawing in potential investors.

But the good news from the NRA didn’t stop there.

It also found that women and minority-owned restaurants are booming in Arizona.

From 2007 to 2012, women-owned restaurants increased 40 percent nationally compared to all businesses. And in Arizona, women restaurant owners grew 71 percent, compared to 9 percent for all restaurants. Nationally, Hispanic restaurant owners grew 51 percent, compared to 46 percent for all businesses.