[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Business Title: U.S. CEOs in Survey Are Most Optimistic Since 2006 Optimism among U.S. chief executives in the fourth quarter rose to the highest level since the start of 2006 as business leaders projected increased sales, investment and hiring, a private survey showed. The Business Roundtable’s economic outlook index climbed to 101 after falling in the previous quarter for the first time since the beginning of 2009, the Washington-based group said today. Readings higher than 50 coincide with an economic expansion. The gauge, which increased from a third-quarter reading of 86, rose to 102 in the first quarter of 2006. Forty-five percent of respondents said they will add to payrolls, an increase of 14 percentage points, while 80 percent said they expect sales will grow in the next six months, up from 66 percent in the third quarter. Businesses need to pick up hiring to lower an unemployment rate that’s been at 9.5 percent or higher for 16 straight months, the longest such stretch since record-keeping began in 1948. “If demand continues to accelerate quarter after quarter after quarter, some of the uncertainty in the economy would begin to abate,” Ivan G. Seidenberg, chairman of the Business Roundtable and chief executive officer of New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., said today during a conference call. “Short-term demand is good,” he said. “But you still have these fundamental issues that unless you keep reducing the amount of uncertainty, you won’t get a really big pickup in investment and a deployment in the capital that’s necessary to really supercharge the economy.” Spending Plan Fifty-nine percent of executives said they plan to spend more on equipment, up from 49 percent, the survey showed. The executives forecast U.S. economic growth of 2.5 percent in 2011 after projecting 1.9 percent growth for 2010 in the previous survey. That compares with the 2.6 percent median estimate of economists for 2011 surveyed by Bloomberg News from Dec. 2-8. “Positively we’ll see stimulus created over the next 12 months, but I think if we don’t head into 2012 and 2013 with more fundamental reforms, we’ll end up sort of dragging our feet a little bit about how we can accelerate the growth of the economy,” Seidenberg said, citing the need for changes to personal income and international taxes in the U.S. “The country needs to have a discussion around these things so we can create a more permanent solution,” he said. The Business Roundtable survey was taken from Nov. 8 to Dec. 3. Seidenberg said 137 CEOS responded, up from 136, the number the Business Roundtable released earlier today. Job Loss The recession that began in December 2007 led to the loss of about 8.4 million jobs, the biggest employment slump in the post-World War II era. So far this year, companies have added 1.2 million jobs, not enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising to 9.8 percent in November. Materials, health care and labor costs topped the list of the respondents’ chief concerns. About one-third said material costs will have the greatest impact on their business. “If you look at the survey and you see people suggesting that materials, cotton, metals, seem to have slightly higher cost profiles, that’s generally an early signal that perhaps the inflation issue is somewhere in the background,” Seidenberg said. “I would not give it a high prominence, but it’s something you obviously should pay attention to.” Profitable Ford Ford Motor Co., the world’s most profitable automaker, on Dec. 9 said it plans to hire 1,800 workers by the end of 2011 and spend $600 million to overhaul a factory in Louisville, Kentucky, to build small sport-utility vehicles. Ford earned $6.37 billion in the first nine months of the year, more than any other global carmaker. General Electric Co., a member of the association, last week raised its dividend for the second time in five months. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt said the decision reflected strong cash generation, accelerated recovery at GE Capital and solid underlying performance in the industrial businesses. The Business Roundtable is an association of 193 CEOs from corporations representing a combined workforce of more than 12 million employees and almost $6 trillion in annual revenue. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay $167 billion annually in dividends to shareholders, according to the group’s website.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Firing Pelosi Galore does provide a bit of cautious optimism, its true.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
have you forgotten that you claimed things would get worse next year?
Firing Pelosi Galore does provide a bit of cautious optimism, its true. have you forgotten that you claimed things would get worse next year? Nope. When you learn the difference between the word 'optimism' and 'economy'...ping me.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
|
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|