Charlie Hall's Off The Charts

Dr. Charlie Hall

Buoyed by higher same-store sales and traffic and a positive outlook among operators, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) remained elevated in January. The RPI—a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry—stood at 102.7 in January, which represented the fourth consecutive month above the level of 102.

In addition, January marked the 23rd consecutive month in which the RPI stood above 100, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators. I like to follow this particular indicator because restaurant spending is discretionary, so even though this is “nice-to-have” (versus got-to-have) data, I like to check it every month. This is another very solid reading and it’s likely restaurants are benefiting from lower gasoline prices and are having to raise wages (a little) to attract and retain workers. Hopefully, the same trend holds true this spring for discretionary purchases of green industry products and services. GT

Dr. Charlie Hall is Ellison Chair in International Floriculture for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He has also recently been appointed AmericanHort’s chief economist to “provide vision, leadership, analysis and technical competence.” Dr. Hall can be reached at chall@tamu.edu.