Dec. Restaurant Performance Index Back to Pre- Recession Level: Recovery is Gaining Firm Foothold

"Driven by expanding same-store sales and customer traffic levels as well as growing optimism among restaurant operators, the outlook for the restaurant industry improved in December. 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 December, up a strong 1.1 percent from its November level (see chart). In addition, December marked the third time in the last four months that the RPI stood above100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

The RPI's solid gain in December was driven by improvements in each of the eight current situation and forward-looking indicators. Overall, the RPI stood above 100 for the third time in the last four months, which suggests that the recovery is gaining a firm foothold."