Wednesday’s sluggish McDonald’s earnings report could actually be a healthy sign for the domestic economy. The fast food chain – hailed as “recession proof” as it gained during the most recent economic downturn – is slipping as Americans find themselves increasingly better situated to pursue options they perceive as more healthy.

Global sales at McDonald’s dropped 2.3 percent year over year during the first quarter of 2015, which the company attributes to “negative guest traffic in all major segments.” Revenues dipped 11 percent from the first quarter of 2014, and net income plummeted 33 percent to $811.5 million – its lowest quarterly reading since 2007.

The fast food giant’s earnings slide comes at a time when the domestic job market is surging – having added more than 3 million positions in the last 12 months – and wages have slightly ticked up – as median weekly earnings in the first quarter rose a modest 1.5 percent year over year.

“With the economy now at 5.7 percent unemployment rate, which is nearly half of what it was six years ago, people have more money in their pockets and are perhaps allocating away from the Dollar Value Menu and are willing to pay up for alternative fast foods that have, let’s call it ‘healthier,’ content,” Matt Kaufler, portfolio manager at Federated Investors, says. “No one’s going to confuse the quality of the average transaction at McDonald’s with the quality of the average transaction at, say, Chipotle.”

Chipotle – a popular fast food chain that McDonald’s invested in during the 1990s before divesting entirely in 2006 – saw its revenue climb more than 20 percent between the first quarter of 2015 and the same period a year prior. The chain’s net income rose to $122.6 million, up nearly 48 percent year over year.

Those net earnings still represent only slightly more than 15 percent of McDonalds’ quarterly revenue. But Chipotle, despite its slightly higher price tag when compared to McDonald’s, is trending in the right direction.

“People are eating on-premises. They’re looking for an experience and spending time with a spouse, spending time with the family, carrying on a conversation,” says Bonnie Riggs, restaurant industry analyst at The NPD Group data tracking and research firm, describing outfits like Chipotle as “fast-casual” restaurants as opposed to traditional fast food and burger joints. “Fast-casual is benefiting from consumers trading up from fast food and those trading down from full-service restaurants.”

McDonald’s was an earnings stalwart in the midst of the Great Recession in part because of its convenience and affordability. The restaurant chain ended 2007 with about $2.36 billion in annual net income. McDonald's ended 2009 with net earnings in excess of $4.55 billion.

“Historically, convenience has been the growth engine for the restaurant industry. Carry out and take out, quick service, fast food,” Riggs says. “Fast food attracts all groups, whether it’s low income or high income or families with kids or singles or married couples. They all visit fast food.”

But as the domestic economy picks up and consumers find themselves with more disposable income and personal savings than they had a year ago, fast food options could start to become less appealing as healthier, often more expensive alternatives appear less fiscally daunting.

“We’ve been so cautious and controlled in our spending since the recession as consumers. We’re starting to let go a little,” Riggs says. “What’s at the bottom, what’s not doing well, are really your main, traditional concepts: hamburger, sub shops, pizza. All negative.”

That’s not to say fast food doesn’t account for a tremendous share of restaurant traffic. Riggs cites The NPD Group’s Crest foodservice research database – which she describes as the “gold standard of the restaurant industry in terms of tracking consumer behavior” with data going back to 1976 – and says fast food outfits attracted 79 percent of the 61 billion restaurant visits made in the U.S. during the 12-month period through February 2015.

She says 77 percent of that group, or about 61 percent of all visits, were made at traditional fast food burger, pizza and sandwich restaurants. So fast food still commands the biggest slice of the restaurant pie.

But the dynamics of the market segment looking for fast food has changed. A rebounding economy allows more people to afford healthier alternatives to fast food. Riggs says millennials, especially, seem to be gravitating toward more health-conscious alternatives.

“They look for healthier, and when they’re look for healthier, they’re looking for fresh,” she says. “They’re looking for quality. They’re looking for fresh ingredients and food that is prepared while they wait.”

Riggs also says there are a growing number of people, especially millennials, either cooking at home or accessing what she describes as “retail” food options. Food retailers like Whole Foods offer pre-made menus that are increasingly attracting consumers away from restaurants and fast-food chains.

“Millennials are using it. Boomers are using it. It’s quality. It’s fresh. There’s variety. It offers many healthy benefits that they’re looking for,” she says, noting that retail food is up 1 percent year over year and has consistently gained share in the last 5 years. “It’s reasonably priced and cheaper than going out to a restaurant.”

She says convenience stores like Sheetz and Wawa are also going after the traditional fast food market, “and they’re going after it in a big way.”

It’s important to keep in mind that non-traditional fast food venues still only account for 23 percent of all fast food visits. Even though the restaurant segment is trending down, traditional fast food outlets like McDonald’s still carry the market.

“McDonald’s management team is keenly focused on acting more quickly to better address today’s consumer needs, expectations and the competitive marketplace,” Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement accompanying the earnings report. “We are developing a turnaround plan to improve our performance and deliver enduring profitable growth.”

Easterbrook has set May 4 as the date McDonald’s will unveil … something. It’s unclear yet what the “turnaround plan” will be, but it is likely to be more meaningful than the recently announced company minimum wage hike that only improved pay for a fraction of the fast food titan’s lowest-paid workers.