Among other economic recent data pertinent to foodservice and foodservice equipment and supplies:Blue Chip Economic Indicators consensus forecasts, released late this month because of the delay in government data, showed little change in the key gross-domestic-product, disposable-income and consumer-spending forecasts. The forecast for real GDP growth rose 0.1 point to 1.7% in 2013 and fell…

Everyone snacks, but not everyone does it the same way. A new study of consumer between-meal eating and drinking patterns analyzes the differences in five rapidly growing foodservice markets. The NPD Group study, International Food and Beverage Habits in Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico and China, charts a wide array of food and foodservice behaviors. In…

The pace of economic growth should pick up in most of the world’s economies next year, according to the latest consensus forecasts from 50 major U.S.-based economic forecasting groups polled by Blue Chip Economic Indicators. Growth of real gross domestic product is expected to speed up as much as a full point or more in…

Foodservice operator growth in the United States has slowed during 2013, according to the latest forecasts from Chicago-based Technomic Inc. But the research firm foresees moderate acceleration in growth next year. The latest Technomic forecasts plot total industry growth for ’13 at 3% in current dollars, with real growth forecast at 1%, factoring out 2%…

The two major indicators of consumer confidence reported mixed results in their final August indexes, though both remain at levels not seen since the beginning of the Great Recession. Meanwhile, gasoline prices are expected to rise as fears about the impact of a pending U.S. attack on Syria for the use of chemical weapons drives…

Poor weather and continuing economic malaise in Europe pushed the number of restaurant visits lower in the second quarter of 2013 in most of the 10 major foodservice markets tracked by The NPD Group. The numbers plot aggregate visits versus the year-prior quarter. Only Japan, China and Australia recorded traffic gains. Traffic surged 3% in…

Third-quarter revenue growth by the seven publicly reporting foodservice equipment and supplies companies were a very mixed bag, according to data compiled by John Muldowney, principal at Clarity Marketing and a marketing executive at the Boelter Cos. Still, blended sales of the companies were positive, with a gain of 3.2%, compared with 3Q/2012. Sales for…

Given that the September survey for the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index was conducted during the partial federal-government shutdown and debt-ceiling fight, the slight decline of the overall RPI is really quite remarkable. While same-store sales and traffic were off sharply and operator confidence about the future also declined, the overall index registered only…

The monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics surprised nearly everyone Nov. 8, citing an addition of 204,000 jobs in October. The BLS also revised jobs growth for August and September, adding another 60,000 to the total. Thanks in part to inconsistencies in the way furloughed federal-government workers were counted in the establishment…

Wholesale food prices fell 0.5% in September, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while gasoline prices at the consumer level continued to fall. Both trends typically are positive for foodservice. In other economic news, consumer food and menu prices rose only slightly while eating- and drinking-place sales hit a new monthly record…