For the sixth straight month the National Restaurant Association has reported RPI levels over 100, meaning positive movement in key areas of the restaurant industry. For the month of February, those areas were same-store sales, customer traffic levels and a growing optimism among restaurant operators.

“Restaurant operators reported positive same-store sales and customer traffic results in February, after January’s results were dampened by extreme weather conditions in many parts of the country,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association.

For more on this story or to read more news from the National Restaurant Association, log on at www.restaurant.org/pressroom.

The RPI 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 full report is available online.

Hudson Riehle provides an industry update, including the February RPI and the impact of rising gasoline prices on restaurants.