Business Roundtable Predicts Increasing Sales and Hiring

As the end of June quickly approaches, it seems that the economic outlook will remain optimistic. While everyone has probably heard anecdotal reports of how things are improving, it is often more comforting to hear from sources that are known to be authorities in their field. This week the Business Roundtable released the results of its second quarter CEO Economic Outlook Survey, which predicted increasing sales and employment over the next six months. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/YUrpN)

From May 24th to June 14th of this year, the Business Roundtable polled a collection of CEOs across the nation, which together represent “more than 12 million employees and nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues,” to gain insight into what they anticipate moving forward.

“Our member CEOs plan to continue hiring and expect improved sales,” Ivan Seidenberg, the Chairman of Business Roundtable and the Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, explained. “That said, our CEOs are demonstrating some caution in the area of capital expenditures, with fewer planning to increase and more keeping it level.” (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/boeLpi)

Just under 80% of the CEOs surveyed said they expect their company’s sales to increase over the next six months, while only 4% said they predicted a decrease. In regards to anticipated capital spending, of the CEOs polled, 43% anticipated an increase, 50% no change, and 7% a decrease.
The CEOs surveyed also predicted that the real GDP of the nation will increase by 2.7% in 2010.

When questioned about anticipated employment changes, 39% of the CEOs surveyed predicted an increase, while 43% expected no change. The proportion of CEOs planning to increase hiring this year is the highest it has been since 2007.

In regards to the recently ratified financial reform legislation, the Business Roundtable reports that its sample CEOs are dissatisfied, and feel that the law “does not address the causes of the financial crisis” and was “rushed to conclusion without consideration of the consequences.”

“Far from effective reform, this legislation includes provisions entirely unrelated to the financial crisis which may disrupt America’s fragile economic recovered,” J. Castellani, president and CEO of Business Roundtable said. “As business leaders, we have been at the table and will continue to advocate for effective policies that encourage investment, innovation, and job growth in America.”

Business Roundtable Chairman Seidberg expressed, “The most important steps the government can take to stabilize financial markets, restore consumer confidence, and create an environment for growth is to commit to fiscal discipline and recognize that sustainable growth will only occur when the private sector--not the government--is expanding.”

Some of actions that the Business Roundtable’s sample CEOs feel the government should take include increasing exports via trade agreements and investing heavily in infrastructure. Moreover, the Business Roundtable’s sample CEOs feel that the government should be incredibly careful about increasing corporate income taxes, considering the United States already has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world and that most nations are presently decreasing taxes to inspire growth. (Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/cq37iE)

Hopefully, the recently passed financial reform legislation will prove not to be as negative as the sample CEOs fear and their anticipated hiring and sales predictions will become realities. The mix of negative and positive feelings coming from the Business Roundtable shows that, despite the progress the country is making, there is still considerable room for improvement.

[Sources: http://bit.ly/bF60SR, http://bit.ly/czJf5j, http://bit.ly/bmqdDW]