Survey: CEOs still foresee negative conditions - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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“This quarter’s results reflect a continuing weak set ofeconomicc conditions,” said Ivan Seidenberg, chairman of Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of “Conditions — whiles still negative — appear to have begun to The Washington-based association of CEOs represents a combine d work force of nearly 10 million employees and more than $5 trilliobn in annual sales. When asked how they anticipatr their sales to fluctuate in the next six 34 percent said saleswill increase, and 46 percent predicted a That is a sunnier forecast than the first-quarte outlook survey, when 24 percent predicted higher sales. Fifty-one percent said their U.S.
capital spendinvg will fall in thesecond quarter, and 12 percenty said it will rise. Forty-ninw percent expect their U.S. employment to decrease in the next six up fromthe first-quarter outlook when 71 percent predicted a drop in employment. Six percentg anticipate their employee baseto increase. Member CEOs estimatee that the nation’s real gross domestic product will dropby 2.1 percengt in 2009, compared with the CEOs’ first-quarter estimated of a 1.9 percent decline. The outlook index — whichn combines member CEO projections for capital spending and employment in the six monthzsahead — expanded to 18.5 in the seconfd quarter, up from -5 in the first quarter.
An indexx reading of 50 or lowert is consistent with overalleconomic contraction, and a reading of 50 or highed is consistent with expansion.