As Congress prepares to move ahead with tax reform, CEOs continue to have high levels of confidence in the U.S. economy, according to the latest Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index released today. The index — a composite measure of CEO projections for sales, plans for capital spending and hiring over the next six months — reached 94.5 for the third quarter of 2017, up from 93.9 in the second quarter and reaching its highest level since 2014.
Seventy-three percent of CEOs said they expect to see increased sales over the next six months, while just under half said they had plans to increase capital spending. Forty-three percent said they expected to increase hiring — up from 36 percent in the second quarter.
“The survey results demonstrate that CEOs remain confident in the U.S. economy and that we must seize on the opportunity to continue to press for pro-growth economic policies that create jobs and fuel wage growth at all levels of the economy,” said Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase and chairman of the Business Roundtable. “Our CEOs are committed and actively engaged in the effort to pass tax reform because they recognize that it will make us stronger as a country and create more opportunity for all Americans.”
