A Solid February Restaurant Performance Report

National Restaurant Association -- "Driven by improving same-store sales and customer traffic levels as well as growing optimism among restaurant operators, the outlook for the restaurant industry improved in February. The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 100.7 in February, up 0.4 percent from its January level (see chart above). In addition, February represented the fifth time in the last six months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

In addition, restaurant operators’ outlook for capital spending hit a 40-month high, while their expectations for staffing growth rose to the highest level in nearly four years.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators’ six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 101.9 in February – up from January’s level of 101.8. In addition, the Expectations Index stood above the 100 level for the 7th consecutive month, which signifies expansion in the forward-looking indicators."

MP: This marks the first time since the fall of 2007 that the overall RPI and the Expectations Index have both been above the benchmark level of 100 for three consecutive months.