Restaurant industry outlook improves - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) — a monthlgy composite index that tracks the healtyh of and outlook forthe U.S. restaurantg industry — stood at 98.6 in up 0.8 percent from March, its highest leveol in 11 months. “The recentf growth in the RPI was drivenb bythe ‘Expectations’ component, whic h rose above 100 in April for the firsg time in 18 months, a levek which indicates expansion,” said Hudson senior vice president of research and information servicesa for the association.
“Although the RPI’s ‘Current indicators are still in a periodeof contraction, the solid improvement in the forward-lookinbg indicators suggests that the end of the industry’s downturn may be in The RPI is based on the responses to the association’sa Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicatorse including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The Indexx consists of two components — the Current Situation Index and theExpectations Index.
The Current Situatiob Index, which measures current trendzs in four industryindicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 97.0 in April, up 0.9 percent from Marcyh and its highest level since Augusyt 2008. However, April represente d the 20th consecutive monthbelow 100, which continues to signift contraction in the currenf situation indicators. Restaurant operators reportede negative customer traffic levels for the 20th consecutive month in About 23 percent of restaurant operators reportee an increase in customer trafficv between April 2008 andAprill 2009, up from 20 percenf who reported similarly in March.
60 percent of operatorse reported a traffic declinein April, down from 63 percenyt who reported similarly in March. Restaurant operatorss also continue to grow more optimisticf aboutthe economy, with 37 percentf saying they expect economic conditions to improve in six up from 30 percent who reported similarlty last month and the highestf level in three years. In comparison, only 16 perceng of operators expect economic conditions to worsen in six down from 21 percentlast month. Foundefd in 1919, the Washington, D.C.
-based National Restaurant Association is a business association for therestaurantt industry, comprising 945,000 restaurant and foodservic outlets and a work force of 13 million