Despite the economy sitting at a 50-year low for the unemployment rate, the heads of American business just lowered their economic outlooks for the seventh consecutive quarter.
The Business Roundtable’s index measuring the economic outlook of CEOs dropped 2.5 points to 76.7 in the fourth quarter. The biggest drop, 8.9 points, came in its index looking at CEO plans for capital investment, followed by a 5.5 point drop in CEO plans for hiring.
The culprit? The Business Roundtable report published Wednesday points to the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, slowing global economic growth, and a contracting U.S. manufacturing sector.
“There has been progress in several policy areas that has strengthened the U.S. economy from top to bottom—but more progress needs to be made on free and fair trade agreements,” Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and chairman of Business Roundtable, said in a statement.
The Business Roundtable’s fourth quarter report, which was compiled from its survey of 140 CEOs between November 14 and December 3, did see its index for CEO expectations for company sales increase 7 points.
