Business Roundtable Releases Third Quarter 2009 CEO Economic Outlook Survey

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CEO Economic
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WASHINGTON-(Business Wire)-September 29, 2009 - The CEOs of America’s leading companies anticipate increased sales in the next six months but do not see enough demand to translate into higher capital expenditures or hiring, according to the results of Business Roundtable’s third quarter 2009 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

“Businesses depend on increased demand to drive capital investment and hiring,” said Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman of Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. “Right now, we’re beginning to see sales trending up but not to the level that translates into meaningful gains in capital spending or jobs.”

Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations, representing a combined workforce of more than 10 million employees and more than $5 trillion in annual revenues.

The survey’s key findings from this quarter and last quarter include:

	2009 Q3			2009 Q2
	Increase	No Change	Decrease	Increase	No Change	Decrease
How do you expect your company’s sales to change in the next six months?	51%	23%	26%	34%	20%	46%
How do you expect your company’s U.S. capital spending to change in the next six months?	21%	44%	35%	12%	37%	51%
How do you expect your company’s U.S. employment to change in the next six months?	13%	47%	40%	6%	45%	49%

In terms of the overall U.S. economy, member CEOs estimate real GDP will decline by 0.9 percent in 2009, up from the CEOs’ second quarter 2009 estimate of a 2.1 percent decline.

The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Survey’s Index expanded to 44.9 in the third quarter of 2009, up from 18.5 in the second quarter and negative 5.0 in the first quarter.

“This quarter’s numbers show an economy in transition,” added Seidenberg. “As the Federal Reserve cautioned this month, unemployment is likely to remain stubbornly high as our nation emerges from recession.”

The Index is a composite diffusion index that combines member CEO projections for sales, capital spending and employment in the six months ahead. The Index is centered on 50, and results can range from negative 50 to positive 150. An index reading of 50 or lower is consistent with overall economic contraction and a reading of 50 or higher is consistent with expansion.

CEO ECONOMIC OUTLOOK INDEX

Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey, conducted quarterly since the fourth quarter of 2002, provides a forward-looking view of the economic outlook of Business Roundtable member CEOs.

The survey was completed between September 2 and September 18. The percentages in some categories may not equal 100 due to rounding. Results of all surveys can be found at http://www.businessroundtable.org/ceo_survey.

Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with more than $5 trillion in annual revenues and more than 10 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay nearly half of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government. Annually, they return $133 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy.

Business Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with more than $70 billion in annual research and development spending – more than a third of the total private R&D spending in the U.S.

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