WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index, a comprehensive index of restaurant activity, posted a moderate gain in June. The RPI stood at 101.4 in June, up 0.5 percent from May and its first gain in three months.
Additionally, the RPI remained above 100 for the 50th consecutive month and represents expansion in the association's composite index of eight key industry indicators.
The RPI is based on responses to the association's Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures. The Index consists of two components — the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.
The June increase was fueled by a rise in the current situation component of the index. The Current Situation Index measures trends in four industry indicators: same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures, and stood at 101 in June — up 0.8 percent from May and its strongest level in three months.
Restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales for the fourth consecutive month in June.
Fifty-six percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between June 2006 and June 2007, up from 47 percent who reported a sales gain in May. Twenty-nine percent of operators reported a same-store sales decline in June, down from 36 percent who reported similarly in May.
Restaurant operators also reported an improvement in customer traffic levels in June.
Forty-three percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between June 2006 and June 2007, up from 39 percent who reported similarly in May. Thirty-seven percent of operators reported a traffic decline in June, while 20 said their customer traffic levels were about the same as they were in June 2006.
The Expectations Index measures restaurant operators' six-month outlook for four industry indicators: same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions, and stood at 101.7 in June — up 0.2 percent from May and its first gain in three months.
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