one of the surest signs of a strong economy is lots of people going out to eat and that’s exactly what americans are doing sales at bars and restaurants in the us jumped 2 in april after a similar increase in march showing americans still have a big appetite for dining out restaurant receipts are up 20 in the past year “restaurants are thriving” said senior economist sal guatieri of bmo capital markets read us retail sales climb in april in a sign economy still has vigor even rising prices due to high inflation hasn’t deterred wouldbe diners the restaurant reservation site opentable said april was the busiest month on record some of the increase in sales is not surprising economists say more people feel comfortable going out after a sharp decline in coronavirus cases and relaxed government restrictions warmer weather is also an incentive “restaurants are benefiting from the return of patrons as covid19 risks continue to ease and the comfort level with returning to sociallyoriented activities improves” said jim baird chief investment officer at plante moran financial advisors yet the strong increase in sales in the past few months also is a sign consumers are still fairly confident in the economy even as they worry greatly about high inflation when the economy turns sour one of the first things americans do is stop going out to eat as much that’s not what is happening encouraged by more people coming in to dine restaurants have added an average of 70000 new jobs a month through the first four months of 2022 employment still hasn’t returned to prepandemic levels partly because labor is hard to find but most restaurants are still looking to hire can it last in light of soaring inflation economists predict spending on restaurants and other goods and services are likely to slow because of high prices rising us interest rates could also slow the economy but an adage among economists is don’t bet against the american consumer