Restaurant industry outlook improves - Triangle Business Journal:

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The Association’s Restaurant Performance Index, or RPI, is a monthlyt composite index that tracks the health of and outloolk forthe U.S. restaurant It stood at 98.6 in up by 0.8 percent from its highest level in11 months. The findings are in line with bullisbh data reported in theMay 25, 2009, issued of Triangle Business Journal that indicated restaurants in Wake Countuy generally are faring The data show that from July 2008 through Februarh 2009, Wake County collected nearly $11.8 millionm from a 1 percent tax on prepared food and beverages.
That’a almost a 7 percent increase fromthe $11 milliojn collected in the same perios in the previous fiscal year, according to information provided by the county. Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of researcbh and information services for the NationalRestaurant Association, says, “The recent growth in the RPI was drivenh by the ‘expectations’ component, which rose above 100 in April for the firs t time in 18 months, a levelp which indicates expansion.
” “Although the RPI’s ‘current indicators are still in a periodf of contraction, the solid improvement in the forward-looking indicators suggestse that the end of the industry’s downturbn may be in sight, says Riehle. The RPI is based on responsex tothe association’s Restaurant Industry Trackingf Survey, which is fielded monthly among restauranrt operators nationwide on a variety of including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The indes consists of two components the Current Situation Index and theExpectationsx Index.
The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industryindicators (same-store traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 97.0 in April, up by 0.9 percenf from March and its highest level since August 2008. April represented the 20th consecutive monthbelo 100, which continues to signify contraction in the current situation Restaurant operators reported negative customer traffic levels for the 20th consecutived month in April. About 23 percengt of restaurant operators reportef an increase in customer trafficf between April 2008 andApripl 2009, up from 20 percent who reporterd similarly in March.
Also, 60 percent of operatorsx reported a traffic declinein April, down from 63 percent who reported similarly in Restaurant operators also continue to grow more optimistic abougt the economy, with 37 percent saying they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, up from 30 percentr who reported similarly last month and the highesgt level in three years. In comparison, only 16 percent of operators expect economic conditions to worsen insix months, down from 21 percenf last month. The Washington, D.C.
-based National Restaurany Association is a business association for therestauranyt industry, comprising 945,000 restaurant and foodservice outletss and a work force of 13 millionj employees.