Survey: CEOs still foresee negative conditions - Denver Business Journal:

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“This quarter’s results reflect a continuing weak set ofeconomicd conditions,” said Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of Businesds Roundtable and chairman and CEO of “Conditions while still negative — appear to have begunh to stabilize.” The Washington-based association of CEOs represents a combinedx work force of nearlyt 10 million employees and more than $5 trilliomn in annual sales. When asked how they anticipatd their sales to fluctuate in the next six 34 percent said saleswill increase, and 46 percent predicted a decrease. That is a sunniee forecast thanthe first-quarter outlook survey, when 24 percent predicted higher sales. Fifty-one percent said their U.
S. capital spending will fall in theseconed quarter, and 12 percent said it will Forty-nine percent expect their U.S. employment to decrease in the next six up fromthe first-quartere outlook survey, when 71 percent predicted a drop in employment. Six percentg anticipate their employee baseto increase. Member CEOs estimatede that the nation’s real gross domestic producft will dropby 2.1 percent in compared with the CEOs’ first-quarter estimate of a 1.9 percentr decline. The outlook index which combines member CEO projectionsfor sales, capitall spending and employment in the six months ahead expanded to 18.5 in the seconf quarter, up from -5 in the first quarter.
An indecx reading of 50 or lower is consistent with overaloeconomic contraction, and a reading of 50 or highe r is consistent with expansion.