NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's CEOs see their company's sales, spending and employment falling over the next six months, and project an overall decline for the economy this year, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs, said 67% of its members expect sales to decline, 66% project a drop in capital spending and 71% see a decrease in employment over the next half-year.
Overall, the group said CEOs expect a 1.9% decline in 2009 gross domestic product (GDP), compared with a projection of no change in GDP three months earlier. The government said last month that GDP declined at a 6.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The Business Roundtable's CEO Economic Outlook Index fell to negative 5 from a positive reading of 16 in the previous quarter. The index ranges from 150 to negative 50, with a reading below positive 50 signaling economic contraction.
The group said the index's decline was less dramatic than the plunge from 78 in the third quarter of last year.
Business Roundtable chairman Harold McGraw III, the head of publisher McGraw-Hill Cos., saw some signs of promise in the stimulus being made by the U.S. and other governments.
"Improving consumer confidence and demand, both in the United States and abroad, is the key to jump-starting the economy," said McGraw, in a written statement.
While "recently implemented administration policies will take time to have an impact, they already have begun to restore confidence in our markets, which is a critical first step," he added.
The Business Roundtable consists of executives whose companies represent 10 million workers and more than $5 trillion in yearly revenue.Link: http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/07/news/economy/business_roundtable/index.htm?postversion=2009040709
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