CEOs Dimming Views on Hiring, Capital Spending and Sales Growth

The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index declined handily, down to 81.3 in the second quarter of 2015 from 90.8 in the first quarter. The long-term average of the Index is 80.5.

As far as what economists and business owners need to look for in this call, it is that the index is a composite view of CEO projections for the six months ahead, covering issues on expected sales trends, capital spending plans, and hiring. The second quarter 2015 survey was completed between April 22 and May 13, 2015. Responses were received from 128 member CEOs.

The Business Roundtable showed the following figures:

• CEOs said that they expect sales at -10 points;
• investment (CapEx) at -9.8 points;
• hiring at -8.9 points;
• and GDP growth of 2.5% in 2015, 0.3 points lower.

It was also pointed out that this last survey was conducted prior to the Commerce Department’s downward revision in GDP to -0.7%.

AT&T’s Chairman Randall Stephenson, who is Chairman of the Business Roundtable, said:

Of particular concern is the downward movement of our CEOs’ investment plans. Business investment is a key driver of economic expansion and job growth. To boost investment spending and strengthen the economy, it is critical that Congress and the Administration pass Trade Promotion Authority and tax reform.

While this should carry a lot of weight due to the BRT covering the top companies in America, we would note that some positive has continued to be seen in recent weeks. That being said, if your CEO is feeling less and less confident then it is hard to expect them to go all out on hiring, capital spending, and on taking new business chances.