The National Restaurant Association released its comprehensive, annual outlook for, and overview of, the U.S. restaurant industry. Highlights of the 2014 forecast report state that restaurant-industry sales are expected to hit a record high of $683.4 billion. Although this will represent the fifth consecutive year of real growth in restaurant sales, the gains remain below what would be expected during a normal post-recession period due to a range of challenges. The restaurant industry will remain the nation’s second-largest private sector employer, with a workforce of 13.5 million, or about 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce.