HAVING A CLUE: Those most tuned in to the state of the economy -- business leaders -- feel pretty good about the economy’s prospects, despite the housing slowdown and mortgage and credit crunches.
By JEANNINE AVERSA
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON — The country’s top corporate executives foresee pretty good business prospects even as the economy gets squeezed by a housing collapse, a credit crunch, Wall Street turmoil and high energy prices.
A survey by the Business Roundtable, released Tuesday, showed that most executives expect sales, capital investment and hiring to remain at current levels or even improve in the coming months. While the economy’s problems have caused consumer confidence to tank, the survey’s results suggest that corporate executives’ assessment is that the business climate remains generally healthy despite all the strains.
The economy, which logged its fastest growth in four years during the third quarter, is expected to slow to a pace of just 1.5 percent or less in the October through December period. In the survey, 87 percent of chief executives said they expected their sales to hold steady or increase over the next six months. That’s down only slightly from 88 percent in the previous survey in September.
On the hiring front, 78 percent said they expected to hold payrolls at current levels or boost them. That’s up a bit from 74 percent in the earlier survey.
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