It's not a good time to be a restaurateur. The Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association said today that its index of restaurant activity stood below 100 for the 10th consecutive month.

Index values above 100 indicate expansion, while values less than 100 represent contraction. The August rate stood at 98.3, up 0.1% from July.

"The recent lack of change in the Restaurant Performance Index reflects the wait-and-see sentiment in the financial markets and overall economy," said Hudson Riehle, the association's senior vice president of research and information services, in a statement. "Restaurant operators reported negative same-store sales for the eighth time in the last 10 months, and their outlook for sales growth in the months ahead remains uncertain."

The RPI is based on the responses to the association's monthly tracking survey, which asks about sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures.

-- Diana Baldrica / The Fresno Bee photo