Continuing Its Streak of Historical Lows, All Five Indices of the CEO Index Dip in June Investment and Employment Confidence Indices Reach Record Lows
MONTVALE, N.J., July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Amidst a 10 percent decline in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last month, the Chief Executive magazine
CEO Index plunged 11.80 percent, or 11.3 points, to 84.5 points (the Index
started at 100 points in October 2002) this month, according to its monthly
polling of C-suite executives. The leading economic indicator has lingered
around its historical lows throughout the last quarter.
All five component indices -- current, future, business, investment and
employment -- of the CEO Index declined in June. Employment and Investment
Confidence Indices were hit the worst, reaching lowest levels since 2002 when
polling began.
Employment Confidence Index dropped to all time low, reaching 77.1 points,
a 17 percent drop from May. Once again, CEOs portrayed a grim outlook on
employment with over half (51.9 percent) of the respondents indicating they
expect employment to drop over the next quarter.
An accurate predictor of the overall employment rate, the Employment
Confidence Index numbers correlate to the jobs data with an approximately six
month lag time. According to this historical correlation, employment is
expected to remain weak through the Presidential Election.
"CEOs are clearly negative on the economy and they expect things to get
worse before they get better," said Edward M. Kopko, Chairman and Publisher of
Chief Executive Magazine. "Particularly CEOs' outlook on employment and
investment over the next quarter suggests that we are up for a challenging
summer and election season."
The Investment Confidence Index was the other component of the CEO Index
that reached a historic low, shedding 14.2 points, or 13 percent, to lend at
93.1 points in June. Less than a quarter of respondents (23 percent) said
they were planning to increase capital spending at their company while almost
40 percent (39 percent) said they are actually decreasing their spending. One
CEO choosing to remain anonymous, stated, "The U.S. government needs to reduce
both the regulatory and tax burden on U.S. corporations to encourage domestic
capital investment."
For additional information regarding the confidence of public- and
private-company CEOs, details about CEO attitudes on employment, investment
and business conditions, visit our full report at
http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex .
About Chief Executive Magazine
Chief Executive is a controlled circulation magazine that has been
published since 1977. It reaches 42,000 chief executive officers and their
peers, reaches a total readership of 228,000. Chief Executive Group
facilitates "Chief Executive of the Year," a prestigious honor bestowed upon
an outstanding corporate leader, nominated and selected by a group of his or
her peers. Robert Ulrich, A. G. Lafley, George David, Fred Smith, Bill Gates,
John Chambers, Michael Dell and Sandy Weill are just some of the leaders who
have been honored during the award's 22-year history. Chief Executive also
organizes roundtable meetings and conferences to foster opportunities for top
corporate officers to discuss key subjects and share their experiences within
a community of peers. Visit www.chiefexecutive.net for more information.
CEO Index, June 2008
Respondents: 129
IndexJune, 2008May, 2008Monthly Change
CEO Index 84.5 95.8 -11.3
Current Confidence Index99.6112.9 -13.3
Future Confidence Index 74.3 84.3 -10
Business Condition Index81.2 84.1 -2.9
Invest Confidence Index 93.1107.3 -14.2
Employment Confidence Index 77.1 94.1 -17
SOURCE Chief Executive Magazine
