The size of the U.S. restaurant industry contracted this past fall as the total number of commercial foodservice locations continued to erode, according to a fall 2010 restaurant census conducted by The NPD Group.

The Chicago-based research firm said the total number of domestic restaurants fell about 1 percent, or by 5,551 outlets, to 579,102 locations in the fall of 2010 compared with the fall of 2009. By comparison, The NPD Group’s ReCount data found the number of restaurants declined about 0.3 percent, or by 1,652 units, in the fall of 2009 versus 2008.