Restaurant traffic fell 1% in the second quarter versus the same quarter last year, according to NPD Group’s CREST research. It is the eighth consecutive quarter of traffic declines according to the Port Washington, N.Y., research group. Noncommercial traffic fell 6% during the period.But in yet another sign that the foodservice market is gradually coming…

The slowdown in the growth of consumer spending over the summer has led economists to cut their forecasts of most key economic measures. Forecast growth of U.S. real gross domestic product for 2010 dropped 0.2 point to 2.7% in the early September survey of more than 50 economists by Blue Chip Economic Indicators newsletter. Predicted…

While the Blue Chip Economic Indicators’ economists cut the U.S. forecasts, the economic outlooks for many countries in Europe and Asia improved, especially in Europe. A much stronger than anticipated rise in real gross domestic product in the second quarter in several Eurozone countries pushed the forecast for overall Eurozone GDP growth this year to…

According to Technomic Inc., the wealthiest 25% of households in the U.S. account for nearly 50% of all foodservice spending. Their cutbacks during The Great Recession have severely stressed many foodservice concepts, particularly those at the higher end. In this light, the preliminary reading on consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of…

Wholesale food prices for so-called “finished” foods fell 0.3 in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data, released Sept. 16. It was the fourth month in five for declines in wholesale food prices after eight months of increases. The Finished Goods Index as a whole rose 0.4% for the month,…

Foodservice Equipment Reports’ E&S Market Forecast package is available for purchase for $449. Purchasers will receive the entire seven-section forecast, including detailed data and analysis of economic and operator trends, exclusive commodity price forecasts from Tom Stundza of IHS Global Insight; E&S manufacturer list-price data from AutoQuotes Inc.; a ranking and analysis of the Top…

The two capital expenditure measures that are part of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index rose in July, even while the overall index fell slightly. The worrisome issue is the continuing decline in operators’ expectations about business over the next six months. The overall RPI fell 0.1 point to 99.4, the fourth-consecutive monthly decline,…

The baby boomers strike again. NPD Group expects foodservice traffic to grow less than 1%, as baby boomers age and dine out less frequently over the next 10 years. Projected traffic growth will trail overall population growth, which is forecast at about 1.1%. “The aging effect on the restaurant industry will be slightly negative because…

The American economy shed another 54,000 non-farm payroll jobs in August as the federal government continued to lay off census workers, the U.S. Department of Labor reported last Friday. The U.S. economy added 67,000 private sector jobs during the month. Both numbers were a bit better than many economists had expected. The revision of July’s…

The battered American consumer has apparently absorbed the reality that things are going to get better only very slowly. Thus, despite the recent negative news on growth of the U.S. economy, jobs, consumer spending and declines in the financial markets, both major measures of consumer confidence ticked up slightly in August. The Thomson Reuters/University of…