May unemployment surge hits industry's stock prices

Nation's Restaurant News,  June 16, 2008  

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NEW YORK -- Restaurant stocks were hammered June 6 by surging oil prices and the government's report of the highest monthly unemployment growth in 22 years.

The Nation's Restaurant News Stock Index fell nearly 3 percent, its largest one-day decline in a year, as jittery investors appeared to read the employment data as a prelude to even lower consumer spending.

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The Labor Department reported the economy lost jobs for a fifth straight month, with the unemployment rate increasing to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent in April.

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