Hospitality’s share of Seattle jobs, August 2026
Leisure and hospitality was 10.0% of Seattle-metro payroll jobs in August 2026 — 214,800 jobs in restaurants, bars, hotels and venues.
Read this chart against manufacturing’s, because they are the same story from opposite ends. As the share of the region’s work done in factories fell, the share done serving people rose — from 8.1% when the series opens in January 1990 to a peak of 10.3% in August 2018. That is a real change in what a Seattle job is, and it is not a neutral one: these are the jobs least likely to cover what the rent takes.
The 2020 notch is the sharpest event in any series on this site — the share fell to 6.1% in April 2020, because this is the sector that could not be done from home. Same-release numerator and denominator, computed at read time, not seasonally adjusted.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State & Area Employment, leisure and hospitality against total nonfarm payrolls, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue MSA, not seasonally adjusted, via FRED. The share is derived at read time. Auto-generated each build.