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Roundup: CEO Economic Outlook Survey Show Dip in Expectations for Q3

Sep 15, 2015

Business Roundtable today's released its Q3 CEO Economic Outlook Survey, reporting lowered expectations for the economy over the next six months, including plans for hiring and capital investment. Projections for hiring also dropped compared to the Q2 survey. The projected GDP growth for 2015 was 2.4 percent, down from last quarter's 2.5 percent.

The survey was released a few hours before White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced that President Obama would be speaking to the Roundtable at Wednesday's CEO Quarterly Meeting. C-SPAN will live stream the President's remarks, set for 11:30 a.m. 

BRT Chairman Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO of AT&T, briefed reporters this morning via conference call on the survey results, joined by BRT President John Engler.

News coverage:

Wall Street Journal, "Washington Squabbles Threaten to Slow Economy, CEOs Say":

Squabbles in Washington are threatening to slow the economy in the coming months, according to a group of chief executive officers at large U.S. companies.
 
The Business Roundtable quarterly CEO survey, released Tuesday, found that more top executives expect to reduce staff and capital investment over the next six months, compared with their view in the spring.
 
“We have a problem where domestic policy is not supporting investment, hiring and economic expansion,” said AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson, who serves as chairman of Business Roundtable. The group includes top executives from among country’s several hundred largest companies.
 
Overall, the composite CEO Economic Outlook Index fell 7.2 points, the second quarterly decline in a row.
 
That’s a sign of “continued subdued economic growth,” said Business Roundtable Chairman Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T.
 
Political uncertainty and “layers of regulation that seem to be coming in waves” are making businesses hesitant about expanding, he said.
 
“We’re encouraging Congress to do everything they can to promote predictability and support investment,” he said.
 
"We have a strengthening dollar, slowing growth abroad and recent international financial market turmoil, and all of that has created some degree of uncertainty in the U.S. economy," Stephenson said.
 
Growing concerns that Republicans and Democrats in Washington won't be able to pass federal spending bills before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 are adding to the uncertainty, he said.
 
"CEOs need to be assured the government is not going to be shut down because policymakers can’t agree on spending priorities," Stephenson said.
 

More (4 p.m.) ...

 

 

 

 

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