WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2022) Congress must take urgent action to provide major financial support in order to prevent widespread bankruptcies and loss of jobs in the restaurant industry, the National Association of Restaurants (NAR) said in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday.
"The restaurant industry is at an inflection point," the letter to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "Alarmingly, the industry still hasn't recreated the more than 650,000 jobs lost early in the pandemic, a loss 45% more than the next closest industry."
Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants are still struggling to keep their doors open amid restructive measures, inflation, a labor shortage and supply chain delays, the letter said.
"While the restaurant industry appreciates the support it received from Congress in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) at the pandemic's onset, new data from our 10th COVID-19 Operators Survey show that restaurant recovery is paralyzed and nowhere near complete. Congress must act now to replenish the RRF," the letter added.
A recent survey revealed that 88% of restaurants experienced a decline in customer demand for indoor on-premises dining because of the omicron variant, 76% of operators report that business conditions are worse now than three months ago and 74% say their restaurant is less profitable now than it was before the pandemic, according to the letter.
