Ron Ruggless Staffing difficulties led this Spring Creek Barbeque location in Addison, Texas, to close temporarily and post signage explaining the situation. Foodservice positions increase in May as jobless rate dips to 5.8% A third of all new hiring in the month was in eating and drinking sector as operators offer interview incentives and special applicant days The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, as the foodservices and drinking sector added 186,000 jobs — a third of the 559,000 positions gained in the month. Eating and drinking establishment employment is in the bureau’s larger leisure and hospitality category, which added 292,000 jobs in the month “as pandemic-related restrictions continued to ease in some parts of the country,” the agency noted.