BRT Releases Second Quarter 2009 CEO Economic Outlook Survey

Washington – The CEOs of America’s leading companies continue to see the strains of an international economic downturn, according to the results of Business Roundtable’s second quarter 2009 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

“This quarter’s results reflect a continuing weak set of economic conditions,” said Ivan G. Seidenberg, Chairman of Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. “Conditions – while still negative – appear to have begun to stabilize.”

Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations, representing a combined workforce of nearly 10 million employees and more than $5 trillion in annual revenues.

The survey’s key findings from this quarter and last quarter include:

n terms of the overall U.S. economy, member CEOs estimate real GDP will decline by 2.1 percent in 2009, down from the CEOs’ estimate of a 1.9 percent decline in the first quarter of 2009.

The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Survey’s Index expanded to 18.5 in the second quarter of 2009, up from negative 5.0 in the first quarter. The Index is a composite diffusion index that combines member CEO projections for sales, capital spending and employment in the six months ahead.

The Index is centered on 50, and results can range from negative 50 to positive 150. An index reading of 50 or lower is consistent with overall economic contraction and a reading of 50 or higher is consistent with expansion.

CEO Economic Outlook Index for Second Quarter 2009

Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey, conducted quarterly since the fourth quarter of 2002, provides a forward-looking view of the economic outlook of Business Roundtable member CEOs.

The survey was completed between June 1 and June 12. The percentages in some categories may not equal 100 due to rounding. Results of all surveys can be found at www.businessroundtable.org/ceo_survey.