CEO Economic Outlook Index Cruises to 5-Year High

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 5:45AM EST · Published Dec 5, 1:15PM EST

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CEO Economic Outlook Index Cruises to 5-Year High — © Thinkstock

Markets have been cruising to record highs, and there’s no doubt that this has been spurred on by an increasingly positive outlook. Reflecting this, the Business Roundtable released its CEO Economic Outlook Index for the fourth quarter.

For some quick background: the CEO Economic Index is a composite of CEO projections for sales and plans for capital spending and hiring over the next six months.

The index increased to 96.8 for the fourth quarter, up from 94.5 in the third. It reached its highest level since the first quarter of 2012 (96.9). The index has significantly exceeded its historical average of 80.3 for four quarters in a row and remains well above 50, suggesting that CEOs continue to expect the U.S. economy to expand at a healthy pace.

Accordingly, CEO plans for capital investment rose to their highest level since the second quarter of 2011. Expectations for sales picked up by 5.1 points. Hiring plans dipped 4.5 points from the third quarter but remain near their highest level in four years.

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In their first gross domestic product estimate for 2018, CEOs project 2.5% GDP growth for the year.

Jamie Dimon, board chair and chief executive of JPMorgan and chairman of Business Roundtable commented:

The U.S. economy is strong, and business leaders are increasingly confident in continued economic growth, marked especially by their plans for additional capital investment. This business confidence rests on the pro-growth economic agenda of policymakers. To continue this momentum, it is critical that we enact pro-growth tax reform that will level the playing field for U.S. business to be globally competitive.

Joshua Bolten, Business Roundtable president and CEO added:

The easing of cost pressures tied to regulation has contributed to continued confidence in the economy. More progress toward smarter regulation coupled with enactment of pro-growth tax reform this year will keep building on U.S. economic momentum.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.