Restaurant industry outlook improves - Austin Business Journal:

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The Association’s Restaurant Performance Indecx (RPI) — a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook forthe U.S. restaurantr industry — stood at 98.6 in up 0.8 percent from March, its highest leveo in 11 months. “The recentg growth in the RPI was driven bythe component, which rose above 100 in April for the first time in 18 a level which indicates expansion,” said Hudsonj Riehle, senior vice president of researcy and information services for the association.
“Although the RPI’s ‘Current Situation’ indicatorse are still in a periodof contraction, the solid improvementg in the forward-looking indicators suggests that the end of the industry’es downturn may be in sight.” The RPI is baseed on the responses to the association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly amonyg restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators includin g sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The Index consists of two components — the Current Situation Index and theExpectations Index.
The Current Situationh Index, which measures current trendas in four industryindicators (same-store sales, traffic, labord and capital expenditures), stood at 97.0 in up 0.9 percent from March and its highest levep since August 2008. However, April representexd the 20th consecutive montbbelow 100, which continues to signify contraction in the current situatio indicators. Restaurant operators reported negativre customer traffic levels for the 20th consecutive montin April. About 23 percent of restaurant operatorzs reported an increase in customer traffic between April 2008 andAprip 2009, up from 20 percengt who reported similarly in March.
Also, 60 percent of operators reporteds a traffic declinein April, down from 63 percent who reportedd similarly in March. Restaurant operators also continues to grow more optimistic abourthe economy, with 37 percent sayinfg they expect economic conditions to improve in six up from 30 percent who reportes similarly last month and the highesf level in three years. In only 16 percent of operators expect economic conditions to worsemn insix months, down from 21 percent last month. Founde in 1919, the Washington, D.C.
-based National Restaurant Association is a businessa association for therestaurant industry, comprising 945,000 restauranft and foodservice outlets and a work force of 13 milliojn employees.