Anyone with, or looking for, an Illinois restaurant job shouldn’t have too much trouble finding employment this summer.

The National Restaurant Association recently released its employment projections for this summer. Throughout the country, eating and drinking places are projected to add 381,800 jobs during the summer, a 4.1 percent increase from March. The nearly 1 million restaurants throughout the country remain one of the largest overall employers, with a total of 13 million workers. And that number is expected to increase by 2 million during the next 10 years.

The State of Illinois came in sixth as far as the states expected to add the most restaurant jobs this summer. New York came in first with an expected 32,900 jobs, followed by California with 30,900 jobs, Texas with 26,400 jobs, Massachusetts with 23,600 jobs, New Jersey with 19,600 jobs, Illinois with 19,300 jobs and Ohio with 19,000 jobs. Maine and Alaska are expected to see the largest proportional increases this summer, at 29.2 percent and 25.1 percent, respectively.

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Hospitality jobs in Illinois, along with other tourism jobs, play a large part in the state’s economy.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity recently announced that the state’s tourism industry generated billions of dollars for local economies and supported hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the state during 2008. The economic impact of tourism increased by more than $883 million to a record $30.8 billion and the travel industry created 303,500 jobs.

“Despite the national economic downturn, Illinois continues to attract visitors from near and far to explore all our state has to offer,” Warren Ribley, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said. “Visitors are staying in our state longer and spending more of their money than ever before, creating good jobs for the hard-working people of our state. Tourism remains a powerful driver in the Illinois economy.”

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Although the current economic recession has continued to take its toll on most industries, hospitality jobs in Illinois have held strong.

The Illinois Bureau of Tourism has stated that tourism was one of the largest businesses for Illinois during 2007, and while the industry’s numbers have dropped slightly during 2008 and the beginning of 2009, tourism continues to play an important part in the state’s economy.

According to an article by Galesburg Radio, the tourism industry created 305,460 Illinois jobs during 2007, an increase of 3,940 jobs and 5.1 percent of the state’s non-farm payroll. That same year, about 89 million domestic visitors came to Illinois, spending more than $29.9 billion, a 5.8 percent increase from 2006.

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