Bolstered by solid improvements in same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the outlook for the restaurant industry continued to strengthen in March. 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 101.0 in March, up 0.3 percent from February and the third gain in the last four months. In addition, March represented the sixth time in the last seven months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.
"The March increase in the Restaurant Performance Index was fueled by continued improvements in the same-store sales and customer traffic indicators," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association. "Most notably, the overall Current Situation component of the RPI stood above 100 for the first time in 43 months, which signifies expansion in the indicators of current industry performance."