Middle-income diners cut restaurant visits in March, Jefferies says.

Investing.com -- Restaurant visits declined in March, driven primarily by reduced spending from middle-income consumers, according to a report from Jefferies.

The investment bank noted that restaurant frequency fell 0.5% in March, compared to a 0.5% increase in February and a 0.4% gain in the prior year. The decline was most pronounced among consumers earning $50,000 to $100,000 annually, who reduced visits by 1.0%, while lower and higher-income groups remained roughly flat.

Delivery frequency increased 0.2% in March but was down from the previous month and significantly below the 4.8% growth seen a year earlier. The $50,000 to $100,000 income bracket also drove the weakness in delivery trends.

Consumer sentiment indicators declined across the board in March, with the sharpest drop in 12-month forward expectations regarding personal finances. The middle-income cohort showed the greatest month-over-month decline across nearly all indices.

Jefferies attributed the softness to multiple factors including corporate layoffs, a partial government shutdown, the Middle East conflict, and rising gas prices. The firm said these conditions could continue to weigh on consumer sentiment in the near term.

The trends aligned with Black Box same-store sales results in March, which showed industry same-store sales down 0.8 percentage points month-over-month.