Bolstered by stronger same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) stood above 100 for the eighth consecutive month in June.

The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 101.4 in June, unchanged from May’s level. June represented the eighth consecutive month that the RPI remained above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.
 
“The latest Restaurant Performance Index reflects improvements in each of the four current situation indicators in June,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association. “Restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales and customer traffic, while their capital spending activity advanced for the second consecutive month.”
 
“However, although the overall current operating environment remains positive, operators have definitely tempered their expectations for the future. Each of the four expectations indicators softened in June, including restaurant operators’ least positive economic outlook in eight months. Still, market conditions are substantially better than two and three years ago,” Riehle added.

Restaurant operators reported an uptick in capital spending for the second consecutive month. Forty-eight percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, up slightly from 46 percent who reported similarly last month.
 
A majority of restaurant operators continue to plan for capital spending in the months ahead. Fifty-one percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, down slightly from 55 percent who reported similarly last month.