The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) was essentially unchanged in March, as improvements in the current situation indicators were offset by a deterioration in restaurant operators’ outlook for business conditions. The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 98.9 in March, up 0.1% from a level of 98.8 in February.
Restaurant operators reported mixed same-store sales results in March, which was a significant improvement from February’s dampened readings. However, operators’ outlook for both sales and the economy became decidedly more pessimistic compared to recent months.
The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators, stood at 98.9 in March – up 2.0% from a level of 96.9 in February. Restaurant operators’ reporting of their same-store sales and customer traffic levels improved between February and March, though both indicators remained in contraction territory.
The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators’ six-month outlook for four industry indicators, stood at 98.8 – down 1.8% from the previous month. That represented the second consecutive sharp decline in the RPI’s forward-looking component, which illustrates the rising degree of uncertainty about business conditions.
National Restaurant Association
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