Restaurant Performance Index Remains Strong As Hiring Picks Up in March; Same-Store Sales Remain Solid; Outlook for Hiring Positive

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WASHINGTON, April 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- With restaurant- industry hiring picking up and operators optimistic about continued growth, the National Restaurant Association's comprehensive index of restaurant activity remained strong in March. The Association's Restaurant Performance Index -- a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry -- dropped a modest 0.2 percent from its record February level.

The Restaurant Performance Index is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is 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. (Click on the following link to view this month's Index report: http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/index/200403.pdf).

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Restaurant Performance Index Remains Strong As Hiring Picks Up in March; Same-Store Sales Remain Solid; Outlook for Hiring Positive

"A modest decline from February's record level was to be expected, as sales comparisons in March eased off February's strong leap-year bolstered levels," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of Research and Information Services for the Association...

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