The NRA’s Restaurant Performance Index Rises to Highest Level in 5 Months

Driven by positive same-store sales and an increasingly optimistic outlook among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) rose to its highest level in five months in November.

The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 100.6 in November, up 0.6 percent from October. In addition, November represented the second time in the last three months that the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

“The November increase in the Restaurant Performance Index was fueled by broad-based gains in both the current situation and forward-looking indicators,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association. “Restaurant operators reported their strongest net positive same-store sales results in more than four years, while customer traffic levels also grew in November.”

Additionally, restaurant operators’ outlook for both sales growth and the overall economy rose to their highest levels in seven months, according to Riehle.

The RPI consists of two components — the Current Situation Index (measuring current trends) and the Expectations Index (measuring restaurant operators’ six-month outlook) — and tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry.

The Current Situation Index stood at 100.2 in November – up 0.8 percent from October’s level of 99.5. November marked the second time in the last three months that the Current Situation Index stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the current situation indicators.

The Expectations Index stood at 100.9 in November – up 0.4 percent from October and the third consecutive monthly gain. November also marked the third consecutive month that the Expectations Index stoodabove 100, which represents a positive outlook among restaurant operators for business conditions in the months ahead.

Restaurant operators’ outlook for capital spending remains positive. Forty-seven percent o frestaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, essentially unchanged from the levels reported in the previous two months.